Tiptoeing to Defeat. The party of Roosevelt, Truman and the Kennedys has morphed into the party of timidity. By Bob Herbert. [New York Times: Opinion]
Twenty years ago a friend, very active in progressive politics, gained an audience with Richard Viguerie — one of the architects of the Christian Right fundraising/media juggernaut. At one point in the perfectly polite conversation, Viguerie leaned forward across his desk and bellowed “You know what’s wrong with you people?” My friend, a bit stunned, managed to squeek out a “What?” You’re afraid,” he replied, “to say what you really believe.”
Reminds me of the “New Coke” debacle. Some braniac at Coca Cola decided that the way to grab market share from Pepsi was to make Coke taste more like Pepsi. The market gave them a big spit take, and Coke, tail between its corporate legs, re-introduced “Original Coke.”
Somehow these stories always come to mind when I think about Democratic Party strategy.
