How to Win Statewide

Anne Martens

The topic of much discussion at Dorchester.  (Well duh, evidently the Dems already get this one.) Short answer: move to Georgia.  Or don't run nut jobs. It's not like this is a big secret folks.

Keynoter Dino "I won before I lost" Rossi (yeah, so did Al Gore) explained that he was able to appeal to all because he was likeable at union halls and other traditionally democratic forums, and because his party chair thought it was important to have one electable candidate without primary opposition.

Let's all take a moment and thank our lucky stars that Oregon's GOP chair Mannix would never go for such a pragmatic plan.  And let's think long and hard about proposals for a newfangled primary that would prove protective of incumbents and would allow moderates to win by removing accountability from the party's political base. (The purpose of a primary, after all, is for a Party to pick a candidate.)

Sidenote: Mannix would surely approve of the "no primary challenge" practice for one candidate - himself. Never one to take a hint, Mannix's proven ability to lose a wide variety of races really stretches the meaning of the term "electable." If he ends up as our next Governor, it'll be through no fault of his own.

And back to the rest of the ticket. Face it, right-wingnuts (the "social conservatives," the bigots, the small-government-except-in-your-bedroom-or-your-uterus banshees and the god-loves-me-but-hates-you bible bashers) are, in fact, the GOP's political base.  To them the GOP must be beholden, and the party primary is what keeps the party towing that same old line.  Sure, we shed a crocodile tear for the loss of moderate Republicans, we watch with mock dismay as every Republican who voted for a balanced budget plan in '03 was summarily destroyed by their party, and we settle in for a few more years of holding every statewide seat.

Dorchester may have started as an unaffiliated forum for moderate or liberal Republicans, but it looks an awful lot like a Party party these days.  In case anyone was confused, there were fluorescent "mainstream" stickers that people could apply to their nametag (or forehead or whatever).  Gotta love labels.  So thank you to all you "mainstream" Republicans for remaining accountable to your political base. We appreciate your assistance.

By Anne Martens March 07, 2005