Nov.26

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Dem 47

   

GOP 53

"What's Actionable Here?", Part I: Shut Up, Henry Cuellar

We read a lot of political news and analysis. And consistent with that habit, we've seen (and read) a whole bunch of "Here's what ails the Democrats" pieces, from both pundits and officeholders.

One specimen of this currently burgeoning genre comes courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). Speaking to one of the anchors on the obscure NewsNation network, Cuellar declared that:

Democrats need to focus on strong border security, number one. And we got to look at what's the cost of living for individuals. You know, people don't want to talk about the 'talk of joy' like the Democrats did at the national level when they're hurting and paying prices for the eggs and the milk and the bread every day. So, this is what Democrats need to focus on.

Appearing on NewsNation, of course, brings up the old question: "If a politician does an interview, and nobody sees it, did it really happen?"

You can probably tell, from the headline if nothing else, that we are not impressed with Cuellar's opinion. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the reasons why:

• We, and in particular (Z), are extremely annoyed by politicians on both sides of the aisle who say, in so many words, "Here is what works in my district; everyone in my party should be doing this." Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is bad about this, so is Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). It is remarkably presumptuous and hypocritical to say, in effect, "Voters don't want to hear about the things that San Francisco Democrats care about. They want to hear about the things that rural Texas/rural Virginia/suburban Michigan voters care about."
  
  
• Cuellar, as the only Democrat to vote against the Women's Health Protection Act, and the only Democrat to be openly anti-choice, is a particularly dubious choice for telling the Democratic Party "what's what."
  
  
• "Joy" and discussion of kitchen table issues are not mutually exclusive, despite Cuellar's suggestion otherwise.
  
  
• Similarly, we've read (and written) a million times that hope, optimism and, yes, joy are exactly what voters are looking for. Remember Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America"? Barack Obama's "Hope"? Heck, even Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again"?

All of this said, our biggest complaint, and biggest question, is: "What's actionable here?" It is very, very easy to engage in finger pointing and scapegoating. It is far, far, far harder to develop and enunciate an alternative plan. For example, Cuellar thinks that the Democrats should be focusing on the cost of things, and on border security. Well, the first TEN issues on Kamala Harris' policy page were about bringing down costs and making things more affordable. She also had a plank, and lengthy discourse, on border security. Oh, and the Democrats tried to pass a border bill, only to be blocked by Donald Trump.

What we are saying here is that anyone can decree "the Democrats have to bring workers back into the tent" or "the Democrats need to rebuild the New Deal coalition" or "the Democrats need to take border security seriously" or "the Democrats need to be less woke" or whatever. But how are these things to be implemented in a way that actually adds votes to the Democrats' tally? What, specifically, could Kamala Harris have done, or should Kamala Harris have done, that she did not do? Because if Henry Cuellar, et al., do not have a clear answer to that question, as opposed to vague hand waving and finger pointing, then it's just a bunch of hot air, and not serious analysis.

As you can presumably tell from the headline, this piece is just the start. It's going to be a while before the dust fully settles from this year's election, and we (or anyone else) can really start to draw some serious conclusions. What we want to do for now, however, is highlight some of the things we think are worth thinking about, as compared to things that seem like empty B.S. to us (ahem, Rep. Cuellar). We're going to try to produce 2-3 pieces a week on the theme, and we think we've probably got enough to discuss to carry us through the Inauguration. (Z)