Chad Marlow

Our Cult of Personalities

As a progressive New Yorker, the day after Election Day is generally my least favorite day of the year. This is not simply because we have a tendency to lose the race at the top of the ticket (be it President, Governor or Mayor), but more so because of all the political pundits who come out of the wood work to offer incorrect analysis of why the Democrats lost the election. Case in point, with this year's election, is an op-ed in the New York Times written by Gigi Georges and Howard Wolfson of the Glover Park Group (a company I hold in high regard). Their analysis suggests we lost the race because (1) Bloomberg spent $100 million, (2) identity politics [i.e. a candidate's race] matter less, (3) we lacked multi-ethnic coalitions, (4) Democrats are perceived as defending the status quo, and (5) the Democratic Party doesn't have a progressive counterpart to the conservative Manhattan Institute. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and . . . right.

One could spend days criticizing the Ferrer campaign's tactics (such as failing to admit Bloomberg wasn't a half-bad mayor and then suggesting we could do better), or one could talk about the roles of Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Al Sharpton, Adolfo Carrion and the many other Democratic leaders in the electoral mix, but that would miss the point entirely. After years of having Republicans successfully attack Democrats on "the character issue," we now reactively approach elections not as a clash of ideas, but as a clash of personalities. This is where Georges' and Wolfson's comments resonate with me.

While it is beyond doubt that a certain percentage of the electorate bases their votes on factors that can neither be adjusted nor controlled (i.e. a candidate's looks, religion, gender, sexual orientation or race), most are seeking that One Good Reason to cast their vote for a particular candidate. That One Good Reason must be something that significantly impacts their daily lives, resonates with their personal sense of morality and fairness (if not self-interest), is articulated in an easily digestible yet persuasive manner, and distinguishes that candidate from her opponent. The reason Democrats on the New York City and State and national levels fail to win races for executive offices is because the Right Wing reliably defines its One Good Reason for each race while progressives do not. In this year's Mayoral race, Bloomberg had education, Ferrer had "I'm not Bloomberg." In 2004, George W. Bush had upholding moral values at home and defeating terrorists abroad, Kerry had "I'm not Bush." In 2000, Bush had restoring morality to the White House, Gore had "I’m more like Clinton." As long as we continue to emphasize personalities above principals and programs, we will continue to lose.

But where will progressive's One Good Reasons come from? To be sure, they can come from campaigns themselves (such as Clinton's 1996 focus on job creation that was best summed up by the phrase "It's the economy, stupid"). But by in large, as they are for the conservatives, our winning ideas must be generated by well-funded organizations that are exclusively dedicated to developing innovative, impactful public policies. Whatever the winning One Good Idea for 2008 may be, we need to begin its development now. So for those who are counting down the days until W's second term is over (myself included), don't keep your political donations in your pockets until the personality of your choice emerges in the Primary. We need to invest now in creating the One Good Reason that will win us the White House in 2008 and, more importantly, the hearts and minds of the American public.

The Democrats/progressives need to build up and fund our own counterparts to the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. We need to develop political institutions where the best and brightest progressive thinkers can develop the next generation of progressive policies free from political personalities who might seek to influence the agenda. Rather than waiting to hitch our wagon to the Democrats' next big personality, let's develop the rationales for electing more progressive leaders today so that when our candidates throw their hats into the ring, they will be armed with the ideas and arguments needed to influence the public and gain their support. If we do, perhaps the day after Election Day won't continue to be my least favorite day of the year.

Chad Marlow: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 9:02 AM, Nov 16, 2005 in Progressive Agenda
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