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June 07, 2005
Where's the Ideas?
Patrick Ruffini points out the problems Howard Dean is having in his first few months as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Ruffini points out the weakness of the DNC website, so I decided to check it out.
The style of the site isn't bad - it's easy to navigate and read and it's accessible to all browsers - no annoying flash.
But there's something missing - policy. The "50 State Strategy" is nothing more than a copy of the Republican 72-Hour project.
There's the obligatory article on Rep. Tom DeLay, complete with black and white picture.
The highlighted blog entries consist of an Edwards backpedal, a story about Governor Gregoire of Washington state and a touting of the questions raised by the 9/11 Commission former members of what is the now-nonexistent 9/11 Commission.
The news headlines? Same thing. The problem isn't Howard Dean. His rhetoric may annoy Republicans, but I think that's the point. The problem with the party is that they lack a leader. The last two presidential candidates are irrelevant, there are no standout leaders in the Senate or the House and the former president and his wife are busy with a future campaign.
This isn't particularly unusual for the party out of power. I can't name who was the leader of the Republican party after Gingrich imploded. But when they were out of power, the Republicans did a great job of rallying people behind policy ideas. We can agree to disagree about the specifics of the Contract With America, but it's hard to deny the political impact of that document.
Posted by slublog at June 7, 2005 12:08 AM
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