How Democrats Can Win Again – New York Times
To the Editor:
I dont believe that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were elected and re-elected because of their positioning on the ideological spectrum. I would suggest that their political success and general popularity were more a matter of personality, a certain quality that my generation regarded as cool.
This is important for a couple of reasons. First, the Democrats need to stop putting forth candidates who seem like that kid in fifth grade who sat in the front row and always knew all the answers: Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton. Voters across the political spectrum prefer the ones who seem like that kid who sat in the back row and threw spitballs: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump.
Second, the notion that progressives should alter their core beliefs to gain traction with voters is a symptom of what is wrong with our politics. Should we ease off on demands for gun control? Should we turn our backs on the L.G.B.T. community? What about accepting desperate refugees into our country? We must stand by our principles while nominating candidates who can win.
LAWRENCE KAPLAN ARDSLEY, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Kudos to Mark Penn and Andrew Stein. Unfortunately, the party hasnt learned from its past. The first presidential election in which I could vote was in 1972. The Democratic Convention that year was very contentious, with great factional differences between left-leaning and centrist groups. Mayor John Lindsay of New York summed it up at the time when he said, This party seems to have an instinct for suicide.
Hopefully, the party will come to its senses in time for the 2018 and 2020 elections and move solidly to the center, where the bulk of the Democratic and independent voters are. If not, the country is ripe for the formation of a centrist third party.
RICHARD FEINSTEIN PRINCETON, N.J.
To the Editor:
Mark Penn and Andrew Stein, harking back to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, are invoking the wrong practical role models for todays Democrats. The deepest potential sources of raw Democratic power are rooted in Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal, which brought his party sustained success at the polls over many election cycles.
F.D.R. managed this strategic feat by concentrating on the broad rights of workers while, often callously, ignoring the moral imperatives of identity politics, though the latter reached existential proportions during his presidency. Roosevelt established Social Security, created government-funded jobs, empowered labor unions and pushed marginal upper-income tax rates for the rich beyond anything remotely imaginable in 2017. At the same time, he placated Dixiecrats by turning a blind eye to Jim Crow, and he mollified nativists by allowing immigration quotas to keep doomed European Jews, among them my own relatives, away from our shores.
Economic justice is a unifying theme for the long haul, pulling together the majoritarian power of numbers against plutocrats, even though for pragmatic reasons some legitimately aggrieved minority interests may be obscenely sacrificed.
DONALD MENDER RHINEBECK, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Mark Penn and Andrew Stein offer a breathtaking example of Orwellian doublespeak and historical rewriting for their own ends. Clintonian centrism offers nothing to working-class voters other than what got them into the crises in which they have found themselves in the past quarter century.
The Democratic Party establishment, which anointed Hillary Clinton before the campaign began, seems unable to comprehend much of anything about American culture beyond the urban centers of the West Coast, the northern half of the East Coast, and about four other states. This is a big, diverse country, with a long history of politics and politicians who were forced to adapt their policies to a broad-based electorate.
Much of the news media, which consistently diminished or denigrated Bernie Sanders with adjectives such as grumpy, old and crabby, enabled and supported that myopia because of their own insularity and disrespect for rural dwellers and the working class.
Mrs. Clinton was one of the most unpopular Democrats in modern history, and one of the few Democrats who could have lost to Donald Trump. The Clintonian wing of the Democratic Party ultimately brought us Mr. Trump. If left in command, it will pave the way for Ted Cruz and others of his and Mr. Trumps ilk. So go ahead, loyal Democrats, keep thinking that the Russians did it or that you can ignore most of the country. Forget about the partys roots in the policies of F.D.R., J.F.K. and L.B.J. Thats just what got us in this mess.
HARVEY GREEN, SANTA FE, N.M.
The writer is emeritus professor of history at Northeastern University.
To the Editor:
While I dont disagree that Mark Penn and Andrew Stein are right in advising that Democrats shift back toward the center, what wins elections is passion and authenticity, above all. That is what Donald Trump portrayed, though it was a false authenticity where are the jobs he promised, and what does he know of health care?
Democrats should demonstrate the real concern for the middle class that they actually feel, and stop allowing the Republicans to falsely define them. They should work with Republicans to finance infrastructure projects on a grand scale, jointly sponsor legislation to limit prison sentences for minor drug offenses, and come up with a plan to fix Obamacare, adding enrollee incentives to limit overuse.
For now, stop worrying about who gets the credit. The public is not stupid. Address the issues that matter most to the greatest number. The Republican dance in Washington will fade when the tune changes.
MARY MCLEOD, ST. PAUL
To the Editor:
Mark Penn and Andrew Stein want the Democratic Party to double down on the strategy that has brought it to its lowest point of power in a century. I hope every Democrat rejects their advice; otherwise, the party will go the way of the Whigs, and deservedly so. Only by embracing the Bernie Sanders wing of the party can the Democrats find their way back to relevance.
CHRISTOPHER UHL WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Mark Penn and Andrew Stein trivialize the fight for civil rights and equality under the law for black people, women and gay people with the term identity politics. No one cares about identity. We care about rights. And the Democratic Party can be very proud of its part in securing and maintaining equality of rights for all Americans.
JAN OXENBERG, VENICE, CALIF.
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A version of this letter appears in print on July 16, 2017, on Page SR10 of the New York edition with the headline: How Democrats Can Win Again.
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How Democrats Can Win Again - New York Times