June 17, 2003
Does John Kerry Play the Sax?
Salon has an interview/bookreview with Danny Goldberg, author of Dispatches From the Culture Wars: How the Left Lost Teen Spirit.
The book (and the article) focuses on how the left seems to have lost touch with the youth of today. It’s no surprise to me that young people had trouble getting behind a candidate who’s wife was leading the charge against pop culture. But I don’t exactly see kids getting to passionate about any of the ‘04 candidates. Bill Clintion famously appeared on MTV and played the sax on Arsenio… Today, what? Howard Dean’s got a blog, and we’re supposed to be excited? When will someone stand up for free speech instead of attacking Hip-Hop Lyrics?
Posted by rschroed at June 17, 2003 04:35 PMThat’s twice today that someone has beaten me to the punch on posting a story. Ah well, good catch Ryan. I think this was the most telling section of that Salon interview:
Well, it would be better if the Democrats had a message and an identity, instead of just being against Bush. These people really are for something, in their heart of hearts. They really do have philosophies that are different from the philosophies of the Bush administration. I don’t know why they can’t explain that to people. Their habits are all wrong. The culture around the Democrats and the left is not effective. They need to rethink the way they go about connecting with the public. If they do rethink it, they can do what Tip O’Neill did. If they don’t, they might do what Walter Mondale did.
I think that sums up the biggest issue the Democrats have right now, that they need to stand firmly for specific issues, and present their moral reasoning for their ideology, rather than just be the anti-republicans.
crutan
Posted by: crutan at June 17, 2003 05:04 PMHoward Dean having a blog is at least as cool, and a whole lot more valuable than Clinton getting up and playing the sax. We’ve never had a chance to engage a candidate or campaign so directly. He’s got comments and trackback, that’s some pretty free speech. If you’re looking for bells & whistles, I’d imagine that Kerry will do something with his millions in the coming months. If you’re looking for substance, blogging and open communications will go a long way to improving the political process.
The dems problem, as crutan pointed out is that the only thing anyone knows about them is that they hate Bush and that Clinton played the sax. Defining an identity, which is arguably done much better via a blog as opposed to a 30 second TV spot or even a marketing-speak website, is what the dems need to do. Its Friday, go out tonight and see a real show by real musicians. Let the dems speak about real issues effecting real people.
(Disclaimer, I’m not even a Dean supporter, just someone glad to see an evolution in political discourse in America)
Posted by: Vince at June 20, 2003 04:53 PM
