In the wake of defeats in New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats and the Obama administration are being advised to move to the center. I think the Republicans are well advised to take that advice, but I am not sure about the Democrats, and I am not sure what the "center" means in this case. In Virginia, I've argued, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds, who on his record and on the issues had much to recommend him, suffered at least in part from identification with Obama and the national party.
The disapproval of Obama among Virginia voters, which began to climb in late July, may have affected their enthusiasm about Deeds. In the final edition of the exit polls, 51 percent of Virginia's voters disapproved of how Obama has done his job, and 94 percent of them voted for McDonnell. More important, perhaps, is that a lack of enthusiasm about Obama and the national party may have affected turnout.
In his Crystal Ball, Larry Sabato analyzes the huge drop in Democratic turnout in Virginia. I'll quote him, and include the tables:
In Virginia, one result of absentee Democrats was the lowest voter turnout for a gubernatorial election in the state's modern two-party history (1969 to 2009). The 2009 turnout of 39.8 percent of the registered voters was the lowest in forty years. Even with all the population growth since 2005, the absolute voter turnout in 2009 (1.97 million) fell below that of four years ago (2.0 million). And the electorate was barely more than half that of 2008 (3.7 million). Astounding.
Virginia Voter Turnout, 1969-2009
Does anybody doubt African-Americans weren't engaged in this week's elections? Here's some proof for remaining doubters, in a sampling of heavily black precincts around Virginia. Even though Creigh Deeds received a larger percentage of the black vote (93 percent) than the previous Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Tim Kaine, in 2005 (90 percent), the turnout was miserable for Deeds--more than 10 full percentage points lower. He received many fewer African-American votes than Kaine, despite near-unanimous backing from blacks who cast a ballot.
African-American Voting in Key Precincts, 2005 vs. 2009
Again, you can argue that the drop in turnout was due to the lousy campaign that Deeds and the other Democrats ran, but I don't think that's the whole explanation. There is a general lack of enthusiasm in Virginia and in other states for what the Obama administration is doing, and it contributed to the low Democratic turnout in Virginia.
There are two reasons, I think, for the lack of enthusiasm. The first is the continuing economic slump (according to some economists, we can no longer say "recession.") As I have argued before, rising unemployment almost inevitably makes presidents unpopular. And if unemployment rises above ten percent, and stays there for 2010, the Democrats are going to be in trouble in 2010. Their base will not come out, and swing voters will decide to take a chance on the other party.
The economists in the White House may have good grounds for believing that unemployment will begin to fall by next June without the equivalent of a second stimulus. But if they don't believe this, or are not sure about it, then the Obama administration better find ways to dole out more money. Increases in spending like this will cause howls of disbelief from the far right and from the would-be centrists, but these kind of measures--and not a further urge to compromise--are what will help the party's prospects in 2010.
The second reason has more to do with the administration's political style. While making much of his community organizing background, Obama has failed to keep the Democratic--and more broadly, liberal--base enthusiastic and committed. There is simply no feeling of a political movement or a crusade among the Democratic grassroots the way there was, say, among Republicans and conservatives during a comparable time in Ronald Reagan's first term.
If anything, Obama has cultivated an insider style of politics aimed at Congress rather than the public. This is not to say that Obama should hold out for a single-payer health insurance program or nationalize the banks. Like Reagan, Obama should be ready to compromise--and also, obviously, to propose actions that will actually work. But in putting forward their programs, Obama and the White House have to begin to wage more of a public campaign that touches upon the ideals of social justice that got him into office. He has to make clear to voters and to what remains of a political movement that he is not just on their side, but fighting for them. He hasn't quite done so, and that is one reason for the difficulties he and the Democrats encountered in this month's elections.
John B. Judis is a senior editor of The New Republic and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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COMMENTS (5)
Mr. Judas has completely mis-read the message in Virginia. Deeds, in fact, ran away from the administration and from the underlying principles of the Democratic party. He ran from cap and trade, he impied he would "opt out" of a public health insurance option, he had no plan on trasportation, and threoughout the campaign he kept moving to the right as McDonald pulled further and further out front. No surprise the democratic base stayed home, he gave them absolutely no reason for them to support him. To put this on Obama is ludicrous.
Mr. Judas has completely mis-read the message in Virginia. Deeds, in fact, ran away from the administration and from the underlying principles of the Democratic party. He ran from cap and trade, he impied he would "opt out" of a public health insurance option, he had no plan on trasportation, and threoughout the campaign he kept moving to the right as McDonald pulled further and further out front. No surprise the democratic base stayed home, he gave them absolutely no reason for them to support him. To put this on Obama is ludicrous.
"He has to make clear to voters and to what remains of a political movement that he is not just on their side, but fighting for them. He hasn't quite done so, and that is one reason for the difficulties he and the Democrats encountered in this month's elections."
Obama need do so buy consistent action, not just occasional verbiage. Pelosi and the House Democrats and Reed have risked more, done more, than Obama on health care, bank regulation,Afghanistan, and other issues. Obama looks more and more like a Chamberlain or Taft when events require a Churchill or Roosevelt. There's very little talk now in the chattering classes about Obama doing too much -- their concerns have been forgotte ... view full comment
"He has to make clear to voters and to what remains of a political movement that he is not just on their side, but fighting for them. He hasn't quite done so, and that is one reason for the difficulties he and the Democrats encountered in this month's elections."
Obama need do so buy consistent action, not just occasional verbiage. Pelosi and the House Democrats and Reed have risked more, done more, than Obama on health care, bank regulation,Afghanistan, and other issues. Obama looks more and more like a Chamberlain or Taft when events require a Churchill or Roosevelt. There's very little talk now in the chattering classes about Obama doing too much -- their concerns have been forgotten.
"... the Obama administration had better find ways to dole out more money".
What an inspiring political program!
"... the Obama administration had better find ways to dole out more money".
What an inspiring political program!
While I've read and admired Mr. Judas' insightful writing over the years, I'm afraid that here he's missed the mark a bit. As a NOVA resident and committed Dem, I can tell you my own reaction and those of my similarly inclined friends and neighbors to the failed Deeds campaign. In short, he abandoned the successful Democratic campaign strategy of Waner, Kaine, Webb, and Obama of focusing his resources and energy on vote rich NOVA. Each of those successful Dems ran campaigns where they sought to run up their haul of votes in NOVA (as well as Hampton Roads/Richmond) and will minimizing their losses in the rural/down state portions of VA. To me at least, Deeds did the opposite for most of th ... view full comment
While I've read and admired Mr. Judas' insightful writing over the years, I'm afraid that here he's missed the mark a bit. As a NOVA resident and committed Dem, I can tell you my own reaction and those of my similarly inclined friends and neighbors to the failed Deeds campaign. In short, he abandoned the successful Democratic campaign strategy of Waner, Kaine, Webb, and Obama of focusing his resources and energy on vote rich NOVA. Each of those successful Dems ran campaigns where they sought to run up their haul of votes in NOVA (as well as Hampton Roads/Richmond) and will minimizing their losses in the rural/down state portions of VA. To me at least, Deeds did the opposite for most of the campaign until it was way to late.
Moreover, he spent much of the campaign in a defensive crouch - continually backing away from Obama in response to McDonnell attacks, rather than seeking to tie McDonnell to the failed economic policies of Bush. While it is true as Mr. Judas has pointed out in other articles that McDonnell was a better candidate, Deeds could have used this approach to go on the attack without overly relying on the Thesis. The beauty of this approach - if done well (but perhaps beyond Deeds' skills) - is that it could have given Deeds a framework to be seen as a populist reformer and responsive to the clear discontent among independents in particular over TARP and other bailouts.
Deeds certainly had plenty of shortcomings and no doubt his campaign left VA voters uninspired to say the least. With the GOP and FOX working full-tilt to keep the base energized, Deeds obviously blundered by taking positions that alienated much of the Democratic base. But I think Judis is correct on most everything else in this piece. The gripe I've heard from Obama voters and campaign volunteers, whether they are put off with him telling Senate Dems to lay off Lieberman shortly after the election, going way too easy on Wall Street during the bailout, backing off closing Guantanamo, or stumping for an unpopular incumbent like Corzine, is that they feel he's basically content to work with ... view full comment
Deeds certainly had plenty of shortcomings and no doubt his campaign left VA voters uninspired to say the least. With the GOP and FOX working full-tilt to keep the base energized, Deeds obviously blundered by taking positions that alienated much of the Democratic base. But I think Judis is correct on most everything else in this piece. The gripe I've heard from Obama voters and campaign volunteers, whether they are put off with him telling Senate Dems to lay off Lieberman shortly after the election, going way too easy on Wall Street during the bailout, backing off closing Guantanamo, or stumping for an unpopular incumbent like Corzine, is that they feel he's basically content to work within and be part of the establishment despite campaigning as someone who would work to provide at least a sense of accountability to the establishment politics-as-usual run amok.
In short, they feel Obama's been co-opted by many of the forces of the status quo that they wanted broken. He needs to at least act more boldly if he hopes to keep Progressives working for him, not to mention voting for him.