Term Paper on "2004 Presidential"

Term Paper 12 pages (3690 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Democrats

Some contend that the Democratic Party lost voters and their ability to win an election by straying from their historic ideals and attempting to woo undecided voters and capture the swing states in the 2004 Presidential election. Such statements ignore the realities of the 2004 election. While the Democrats may have been too moderate for some of their voters, post-election analysis demonstrates that the 2004 election hinged, not on traditional issues, but the amorphous issue of moral values. While George Bush constantly reminded voters of his personal religious beliefs and moral convictions, John Kerry was considered out of the cultural mainstream, making it more difficult for the average voter to relate to him. At first blush, it appeared that Kerry was too moderate for the liberals and too liberal for the moderates, but poll results demonstrated that most left-leaning voters still cast their votes for the Democrats. In addition, the only successful Democratic presidential candidate in almost 30 years was Bill Clinton; a moderate who managed to win his elections by capturing the swing vote and the last Democrat to reach 50% of the vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Furthermore, the strengths of the Republican Party and the fact that the country is at war contributed greatly to the Democrat's defeat. The Democrats lost election 2004, not because they catered to undecided voters, but because they failed to woo enough of the swing voters and undecided electorate. However, if the Democrats use the election of 2004 as a learning experience and return to their history of being the people's party, they will regain their capability of winning elections.

If the Democrats want to, once again, become the people's party, they need to get back in touch with the people. Since Jimmy Carter failed to win his bid for re-election, the Democrats have been viewed as somewhat elitist, and that perception was exacerbated by the 2004 election. Heading into the election, the key issues for the Democrats appeared to be the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism, and the economy. In contrast, the Republicans were focusing on family values, same-sex marriage, and blurring the line separating church and state. The Democrats dismissed those issues as unimportant to the average voter. Those very issues turned out to be the deciding factors in an extremely close election, and the fact that the Democrats failed to realize the importance of those issues demonstrates how out-of-touch with mainstream America the Democratic Party has become.

One of the major issues is that the Democrats do not appear to have considered the social, psychological, and political ramifications that 9-11 had on most of the country. Post 9-11 many Americans expressed a desire to return to traditional American values, including an emphasis on the nuclear family and religion. That return to traditional American values also coincides with a return to an era of diminished civil rights at home.

Issues such as civil rights, which Republican voters claim to support as a basis for foreign wars, are taken for granted at home. Civil rights have become so guaranteed that many right-wing voters that they fail to see the irony in supporting a war abroad for the sake of ensuring the civil rights of an oppressed people. Furthermore, many American voters are too young to remember the not-so-distant past when large portions of the American populace were actively denied basic civil rights on a daily basis. The American electorate seemed to have a hard time grasping how easily civil rights can be eroded, but, instead of emphasizing the importance of protecting liberty at home, the Democrats allowed the Republicans to frame a central debate around spreading liberty abroad.

The debate around the return to traditional values was at its most heated concerning the issue of same-sex marriage. While Kerry and Bush had almost identical positions on the issue of same-sex marriage, the Democrats allowed the Republicans to transform same-sex marriage into a central theme of the election. Despite the fact that the Republican vice-presidential candidate's daughter is a lesbian, the Democrats were seen as more sympathetic to the concerns of gays and lesbians. While that may be true, what the Democrats failed to do was emphasize how ensuring civil rights for a marginalized group helps ensure freedom for all people.

Stem-cell research was another hot-topic for debate in election 2004. While Kerry's views regarding stem-cell research align closely with those of the average American, the issue of stem cell research was transformed by the Republicans into a mere substitute for the same issue that has polarized American politics for the last 30 years: abortion. Many left-leaning Democrats have failed to take into account that the advancements in medicine that have made fetuses viable at 20 weeks have made it morally repugnant to many Americans to consider themselves unqualifiedly pro-choice. Even for voters who support a woman's right to an abortion in the first trimester or to save a mother's life, might have problems voting for a candidate that they believe supports abortion without reservation. Finally, Democrats waited too long to inform the American public about the realities of stem-cell research and the origins of stem-cell lines. By the time that Kerry chose to really address the issue, many Americans already believed that stem-cell research involved terminating lives-in-progress.

In short, too much of the American public viewed the Democrats in general and Kerry in particular, as outsiders. The perception by many Americans was that the Democratic Party was composed of baby-killing homosexuals. The problem was not that the Democrats nominated a candidate that was outside of the social mainstream in his personal politics; Kerry is a devout Roman Catholic. The problem was that the Democrats ignored how important issues of moral values were and neglected to demonstrate Kerry's personal religious foundation. Instead, the Democrats allowed the Republicans to portray Kerry as just another secular liberal.

Moral values are not the only place were Democrats are out of touch with the average American. The Democrats have a Presidential nominating process that regularly leads them to select out-of-the-cultural mainstream candidates. For almost 30 years, Democrats have, for the most part, nominated Presidential candidates that voters have found were out of step with American feelings regarding national security, religious issues, and moral values. Kerry was a prime example of such a candidate. Kerry was considered aloof and aristocratic by voters, and his attempts to connect with the average voter only served to heighten the differences between him and most Americans.

During the debates, when Kerry attempted to emphasize his concern for the average tax-paying American, he did so in a manner that emphasized the enormous differences between his economic circumstances, versus that of the average American. Instead of making voters believe that he was genuinely interested in their economic welfare, Kerry came off as somewhat patronizing and condescending. However, Kerry's apparent aloofness was not limited to one error in one debate: he appeared far better-educated and wealthier than the average American, which made it more difficult for the average American to relate to him. While Bush and Kerry had similar educational and financial backgrounds, Bush presented himself to the electorate like someone born with spurs on his boots rather than a silver spoon in his mouth.

Bush's appearance that he was like every man helped cement the Republican Party's lock on a huge segment of the population that had previously aligned itself with the Democratic Party. Since 1964, the Democratic base of blue-collar, less educated, and rural whites has eroded. Given that the majority of voters fall into that category, the Democrats needed to address and remedy that erosion. However, throughout election 2004, the Democrats failed to acknowledge that they no longer have a natural majority of voters.

Instead of making a concerted effort to reach moderate voters, the Democrats have continued to nominate candidates like Kerry, who are perceived as more liberal and more left-wing than the average voter. In order to capture a majority of votes, the Democrats are going to have to nominate a candidate that the majority of voters feel that they can trust and understand.

Part of the problem rests in the nomination process employed by the Democratic Party, which gives disproportionate power to interest groups. Though polls show that moderates and conservatives actually outnumber liberals in the Democratic Party, the liberals dominate the primaries. In fact, in the 2004 Democratic primary elections, only Lieberman ran as a moderate, and he failed to win a single primary.

The major problem with the Democrats choosing a liberal as their presidential candidate is that they are concentrating their efforts on voters that are going to vote Democrat anyway, simply because of a lack of other viable options. The red states and the blue states did not significantly vary from the division in election 2000. While the candidates had double-digit percentage leads in the traditional red and blue states, Bush's lead in some of the swing states was less than 3%. In addition, unlike election 2000 and… READ MORE

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