Democrats and the News

How will Democrats win 2006 elections?

This is probably the question of the year. And there are not a whole lot of easy answers appearing in the current blogosphere. So I looked to my favorites to find out what the current thinking is . . . don't we all?

From my two favorite blog communities - A diarist, "Democratic Instant Message" at DailyKos posted about my question on Feb. 21, with "How to Win the 2006 elections in 3 Easy Steps!". The thread, unfortunately, got only three comments, none of them mine. Because, I don't have any idea how we will win. If I did I would be rich and famous and on my way to Tahiti.
TPMCafe has a Democrats discussion table that turns up some interesting ideas from time to time, but the discussions are not the liveliest ones in that blog community.

From my two favorite newspapers - A bit of "search and research" yielded couple of helpful resources:

• The Washington Post has a special election section on Campaign 2006, with an interesting map highlighting the key races.
• Democrats might have a chance at winning some governors' races. The New York Times writer, Adam Nagourney, explores the idea concluding that,

"At a time when considerable political attention is focused on the Democrats' uphill struggle to recapture Congress, leaders of both parties say Democrats appear to be in a much stronger position on another pivotal battlefield this November, the contests for governors.
Democrats have a strong chance to pick up a number of seats held by Republicans while keeping seats even in states that President Bush won in 2004, potentially allowing Democrats to put their view of government on display across a bigger swath of the country and strengthening their position for the 2008 presidential race, party officials said.
Among the states that could flip to the Democratic column are Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Ohio, all general election battlegrounds carried by Mr. Bush, as well as New York and perhaps California."

Events will drive the outcomes - Slate Magazine carries a one of my favorite columns on what is in the Sunday papers. It is written by Daniel Politi, who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Today there is almost nothing about this year's elections. In practical terms events will probably affect the elections outcomes more than anything.

• The Iraq situation is perilously close to civil war.
• Almost everyone in the country objects to American ports in the control of non-American companies.
• Impending trials for White House officials and Republican lobbyists will remain in the news.
• Mardi Gras visitors are small in number, and memories of the administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina will still be fresh in all voters' minds as they cast their ballots.

Throw the rascals out! I have some sympathy for Democratic leaders who try to craft our own identity message. In the face of such massive Republican ineptitude, perhaps the message to voters sould be simple: "Do you really want more of ___ ___? (Fill in the blanks from the above stories.)" This is our dilemma. What do you think?
Tags: Democrats election strategy Elections-2006 news headlines
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about this S/SW blog's history.