MyDD :: How to Be an Opposition Party

How to Be an Opposition Party

by Matt Stoller, Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 12:46:51 PM EST

I want to highlight a few articles on a very important subject - how to be a politically viable opposition party. The best model to look at is not the Republicans in 1993, though that's somewhat useful, but towards parliamentary systems. In 1993, Southern Democrats were very willing to buck party discipline - today that is just not the case with moderate Republicans, and there aren't enough of them to matter anyway. What we are facing is more a unified Republican machine with control over all levers of government, not a fractious coalition. So how do you create a viable opposition that isn't obstructionist but does oppose? Well, the key is to set yourself up to win elections in the future, not to obstruct what the other side does or to attempt to govern with the party in power.

Currently, the pitiful candidate Kerry is busy setting himself up for 2008 by shitting on the base operatives striving to have every vote count. This is a mistake. When you are in opposition, every ally is important, and you do not sacrifice allies to stay in game, because you are not in the game. Kerry and many Senate Democrats do not understand this. They are not players anymore.

Kevin Brennan and Ian Welsh, two brilliant Canadians who have a deep interest in American politics, lay this out. In Learn How to Lose, Kevin shows that there is a right way to lose that scores you points in later elections, and a wrong way to lose that just fosters the perception of ineffectiveness. In The Bright Red Line, Ian talks about the battles that need to be fought and filibustered, the things upon which we cannot compromise or we lose the American polity for a generation.

In other words, being an effective opposition is about resisting structural changes that tilt the playing field away from you while allowing the governing party to enact policies you do not agree with, all the while proposing clear alternatives and publicizing them. Meanwhile, at the state and local level, governing well is essential to showcase how effective the Democratic alternative really is. At the federal level, though, we have no power, so we can be honest, like Al Sharpton in the primaries. Imagine that, a party of Sharptonian rhetoric.

Tags: General 2008 (all tags)

Permalink :: 15 Comments :: Post a Comment

Shitting on the base? (none / 0)

You know, I didn't really interpret the comments by Kerry's press secretary (not by the Senator himself) as "shitting on the base." Kerry's made the tactical decision not to wage the same sort of recount battle Al Gore did -- which, like it or not, is not inherently unreasonable, given that Gore's fight accomplished precisely zero. That's all.

I took the comments as a way of keeping the ongoing vote counts in play while making it hard for the GOP to characterize Kerry as a sore loser. Still, the fact that the Kerry camp is saying, in public, that the election's not quite over is significant.

by Californian on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 01:14:32 PM EST

Re: Shitting on the base? (none / 0)

Than why doesn't he say something like "Although we don't believe it will change the outcome, it is important that every vote is counted" or something neutral and non-binding like that?

He went out of his way to bring up the conspiracy theory - in a way that clearly derided the efforts of people on the ground in Oh, FL and elsewhere.

-jeff

by j pratt on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 02:37:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Shitting on the base? (none / 0)

That's right...

And furtheremore, I wish he would make some comments about the need for uniform election standards, or highlight the voting problems (long lines, untrained staff, machines that can't be audited, etc). He could do these things without actually contesting the election or un-conceding.
He could verbalize or address these things within a context of protecting democracy as a whole, not just his election. But he isn't doing that.

Wouldn't that be part of the positioning party to win the next election strategy? And the publicly offering clear alternatives strategy??

Personally, thats been the most disappointing part of post-election John Kerry.

by avagias on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 03:01:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Except for the Kerry bashing (3.00 / 1)

these comments are right on the money.

by Paul Goodman on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 01:53:21 PM EST

Re: Except for the Kerry bashing (none / 0)

Kerry is the example to follow. He could have taken the election to court and recounts, but he earned credibility and now lives to fight another day.

Be smart and pick your fights. Be honest and learn to draw the line.

The time for playing nice is over.

by Christopher Hitchens on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 02:00:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

How to be an opposition party (none / 0)

The first step is to stand for something. I believe that we need to make it clear that WE ARE THE PARTY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. We believe that every generation of Americans can have a better life than the generation before it. All of our policy choices are designed to keep the American Dream alive.

by Ephus on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 02:08:06 PM EST

Good article Chris, and good point... (none / 0)

...I do agree that Kerry has neglected his base - badly. The motivators for this are the same as the motivators which promted him to run ambigiously on issues until "too late" in the race. Kerry has and still is operating under the false hope that by, "just waiting long enough, he can co-opt every position and strategy out there".

I voted for Kerry, Kerry would have been a 100 billion times better for Bush, but he IS a conscious flip-flopper these days (partial backstory there, and also here at the bottom), who in fact has lacked a conviction to run on what he believes in. He only came strongly out against the war and Bush when he was substantially down in the polls at the end of August (when he basically adopted Dean's positions).

Better to stand for SOMETHING strongly, than stand for everything meekly. That was this election in a nutshell:

"I'm George Bush and I'm running on the fact that I didn't blink when I hit that wall!" ("Yeaaaa!!!" - the masses go wild!)

vs.

Kerry, "I'm going to wait to see what you want me to say..." ("boo!" the masses hiss)

by cgilbert01 on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 02:17:50 PM EST

er...I mean good article Matt... (none / 0)

...doink...

by cgilbert01 on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 02:39:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: er...I mean good article Matt... (none / 0)

thanks

by Matt Stoller on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 03:26:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Interesting.... (none / 0)

(I'm going to ignore the Kerry comments as I think they are unhelpful.)

I think the vote on authorizing Bush to go to war with Iraq is an example where I wish the democrats had opposed. I'm sure they knew it was a mistake to further empower Bush, but they made the political calculation that they would be hurt in the mid term elections if the oppose the resolution. In the event, they wound up losing seats anyway.

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong --Stephen Stills "For What It's Worth"

by vj on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 03:31:32 PM EST

Re: Interesting.... (none / 0)

I'm appalled at all the abuse the unfortunate Kerry is being subjected to by I suspect some of the very people who were gazing at him adoringly only a few weeks ago. It's the election-stealing Republican brownshirts you ought to be cursing, morons!

by Baltimore on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 07:47:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some homegrown ideas (none / 0)

This article from ndol.com also has some good ideas in a similar vein: A Reform Insurgency

...Republicans are now responsible for all the policy failures and special interest dominated procedures of the most powerful central government this side of Beijing. Surveys consistently show that roughly a third of Americans don't know which party controls Congress. How often did you hear Democrats talk about one-party domination of Washington during the last campaign? Not remotely as often, we'd bet, as you heard Republicans, from the president on down, talk about Democrats as the big-government party. That needs to change right away...

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong --Stephen Stills "For What It's Worth"

by vj on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 03:36:02 PM EST

An Admittedly Selfish Alternative (none / 0)

...or, you could just help us show how much better things are/could be under Democrats by showcasing what's going on here in the great state of Illinois!

Kidding aside, for the next four years, Illinois gets to be a petri dish of what a D-controlled world might be like. A young D Governor with a habit of thinking globally - replacing yet another corrupt, now-indicted R predecessor (who admittedly got the right idea late in his term about the death penalty system). A senior US Senator, successor to Paul Simon's seat, who is now the Minority Whip. A new junior US Senator who is...a freakin' rock star and hope for the future of the free world. A new majority in the state's Congressional Delegation (courtesy of knocking off Phil Crane). Complete control of both houses of the State legislature as well as the judiciary and a Mayor-for-life of the largest city.

This is what Democracy for Illinois (the state DFA-inspired org) is about - building on our lead and building up a "farm team" of progressives. The goal here is to...help make the D leaders at all levels act more like Durbin and Obama.

Here, our Governor is going after buying prescription drugs from Canada - anyway. We are overhauling a fatally flawed capital punishment system. Mayor Daley has vowed to make Chicago the greenest big city in the US - and is putting serious money and his own prestige behind it, and is giving more community groups the ability to form charter schools without draining the system of money for vouchers. In Illinois, the fastest-growing cash crop is...wind energy in downstate farms.

We have a load more to do, but without faking objectivity, we have a chance here to form a cogent counterargument by example.

And perhaps if Hillary buries us even further when she gets creamed by Frist in 2008 we can help Barack take the next step that everyone - on both sides - knows is there for him.

by ericd1112 on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 06:30:49 PM EST

Screw the tactical (none / 0)

Funny, just before I came across this item on My DD I had just written a rant on this in my blog. Apologies for crudeness but it's how I feel.

The general haze that seems to be settling down over the Democrats is one of shrewdness. I'm seeing a number of discussions going on about "choosing our battles." An attitude of evaluation, of picking what are "important" issues to fight and which ones to leave as orphans. I'm sure this is considered a tactical judgement of how to best spend the D's political capital and not squander it on lost causes.

I say, f--k it! Go all out. All this jockeying for position, trying to be reasonable and moderate-right bullshit is worthless. Standing up for principles, human rights, equality, etc. isn't just a considered and balanced stance. It shouldn't depend on a pollster's results before commiting to action. Politics may be a careful dance but it shouldn't always be so. Sometimes it's best to go with the heart, with the soul, with righteous fury. Am I talking about the Dems? Soul? Righteousness? Aren't those Republican words? Hell, no!

The D's are a minority party in the government at the moment. They seem to be acting like with just the right words, just the right tactics, they'll eventually be back on top. That is such crap! I figure as the minority party, they gain power. Wait, GAIN power? WTF? Yes, with less to lose, they could take bigger risks rather than few risks. Repubs have been running roughshod over D's for years now. R's talk about Bipartisan but what they mean is for D's to bend over for them. Those R's have the rude values of a bully.

And all this from me, a mild guy who generally doesn't care what the Dems do. Screw the tactical: Light the Fire!

by wordlackey on Wed Nov 17, 2004 at 10:49:12 PM EST

Re: Screw the tactical (none / 0)

I agree with the attitude. Power is never given, it must be taken, in this case, from their cold, dead hands (metaphorically speaking) if need be.

If the enemy is coming at you with a flamethrower, a blowtorch ain't much good. And if you - yes, you, reading this - need any more proof that the previous poster's attitude is correct, consider the inevitable news of the R's despicable rollback of the ethics provisions, to protect Tom DeLay, that they put in place ex post facto to catch Danny Rostenkowski.

by ericd1112 on Thu Nov 18, 2004 at 08:22:58 AM EST
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