PHOENIX (Jon Kamman, Arizona Republic)
November 8, 2004 -
Arizona Democrats, struggling to recover from the shellacking they took
at the polls last week, are pondering several approaches to reassert
themselves in 2006 or beyond.
Contradictory approaches, that is.
Move left to the original soul of the party, the old guard says.
Move right to show greater respect for the code word "values" of social conservatism on abortion, gay rights and divine guidance of government, another faction says.
Or third, the current leadership suggests, stay somewhere in the middle, but redefine "values" in Democratic terms, find better ways to connect with the middle class and find better candidates to do it.
The course chosen by the state's minority party brings into question how much influence it can maintain in Arizona in dealing with such continuing challenges as rapid growth, mounting resentment toward unlawful immigration, and poor national rankings in poverty, health care coverage and quality of public education.
In some quarters, the talk is that it wasn't just an election lost to President Bush and a largely Republican slate statewide, but evidence that the party has lost its soul.
"I don't have the answer," an otherwise upbeat state Democratic Chairman Jim Pederson said in the wake of Tuesday's defeat.
The Democrats' poor showing was a seeming repudiation of much of the work and money that he and a corps of supporters of Gov. Janet Napolitano have invested in the party during his nearly four years as chairman.
Other than the 2002 outcome - a narrow win by Napolitano and the wider victory by Attorney General Terry Goddard - the Democrats' accomplishments have been largely amorphous. Pederson pointed to a beefed-up party infrastructure and volunteer corps that can be used in future elections, and greater fund-raising prowess.
"Maybe some of these working families we've always relied on for support take a look at the leadership of the party and view us as elitist," he said. "That means we're not identifying with them anymore. We really have to work on that."
The state party will have to do it without him at the helm, said Pederson, a shopping-center developer who has poured close to $4 million in personal funds into political causes in recent years.
"I said I would do it for four years. It's time for some fresh blood and a fresh look. But I'm extremely pleased with what we've done in the time I've been chair. I truly believe it's now a two-party state despite what happened Tuesday."
Pederson could be in a position to personally test the two-party status. He is eyeing the U.S. Senate seat of Republican Jon Kyl, whose second term ends in two years.
Taking care not to reopen wounds by saying anything specifically about Arizona's party, Gutierrez blamed the national party's faltering standing on its shift to the right, a tactic to get Bill Clinton elected in 1992. The victory was engineered by the still-influential Democratic Leadership Council.
"Clearly, this is a party without a soul, without a mission," Gutierrez said. "It went into the hands of the DLC, whose objective was to be like the Republicans, but not be Republicans.
"When you present the people with a choice between real conservatives and those who play them on TV, they'll take the real ones," he said of the Bush-Kerry race.
"We've got to return to our fundamentals. Ultimately, a party is about ideas, and they haven't got any of those."
It would be a big mistake to turn further left in a state that has shown, with few exceptions, conservative leanings for decades, said state Senate Minority Leader Jack Brown of St. Johns.
Calling himself "a pretty conservative guy," Brown said, "I do think Democrats have moved way too far to the liberal side on some issues."
Brown, a state lawmaker for 30 years from a nominally Democratic eastern Arizona district, has felt the effects of a swing to the right by his constituents. He is still sweating out a final ballot count to see if he will return to the House, or whether both of the district's seats will go to Republicans.
"We need to look more at some of these moral issues," Brown said. "Gay marriage, for example. Eleven states voted against gay marriage, and we ought to learn something from that. Sure, give them the same property rights and other rights that everybody has, but the people in rural Arizona and a lot of other places don't want them marrying."
On abortion and religion, Brown said, "We've got to leave those alone."
But pressed on how Democrats could remain silent or retreat from their longstanding pro-choice stance in the face of opponents who make it a major campaign issue, he said he isn't sure.
Redefining 'values'
Pederson said, "Bush came across to a lot of people as the family values kind of person. I think that really translates to those wedge issues like abortion and gay rights. I think we have to get those issues on the table and have a more open discussion of them. And we're going to have to define those 'values' terms.
"We have to turn that around and say a good job is also a family value. Having health insurance for every member of the family is also a family value. Having safe and stable neighborhoods, clean air and water are also family values.
"We have to hone our message," Pederson continued, "and we have to get our base constituency back that we've enjoyed over the last 60-70 years."
Rather than engage in a liberal-conservative argument, "I want to get away from ideology," Pederson said. "I want a practical solution to the problems we face."
"The party is a total joke," Klahr said. "Ask any candidate what the party did for them. Nothing.
"At the Teresa Heinz Kerry dinner, they raised $1 million for the coordinated campaign, and we assumed we would at least get some help, if not a little money. But they used it all for the top of the ticket."
Klahr agreed that the party must find a way to deliver its message with clarity to a broader constituency, "or we'll go the way of the Whigs."
"On the 'guns, gays and God' issues, the Republicans have their churches, and the Democrats have their unions. In a right-to-work state where labor isn't big, nobody's listening (to the Democrats)," he said.
Gutierrez, for his part, urged that the party combat the image of "liberal" as a dirty word.
Republicans capitalized on the term in attacking Kerry, "but this 'tremendously liberal person who's not right for Arizona' never defended his liberalism," Gutierrez said.
"You have a group of people who are embarrassed to use the term. How can you say it's not working for Arizona? These people have run away from the soul of the party."
Contradictory approaches, that is.
Move left to the original soul of the party, the old guard says.
Move right to show greater respect for the code word "values" of social conservatism on abortion, gay rights and divine guidance of government, another faction says.
Or third, the current leadership suggests, stay somewhere in the middle, but redefine "values" in Democratic terms, find better ways to connect with the middle class and find better candidates to do it.
The course chosen by the state's minority party brings into question how much influence it can maintain in Arizona in dealing with such continuing challenges as rapid growth, mounting resentment toward unlawful immigration, and poor national rankings in poverty, health care coverage and quality of public education.
In some quarters, the talk is that it wasn't just an election lost to President Bush and a largely Republican slate statewide, but evidence that the party has lost its soul.
Part extinction?
One out-of-the-mainstream candidate even questions whether the party could become extinct, as the Whigs did in the mid-1800s at the advent of the Republican Party."I don't have the answer," an otherwise upbeat state Democratic Chairman Jim Pederson said in the wake of Tuesday's defeat.
The Democrats' poor showing was a seeming repudiation of much of the work and money that he and a corps of supporters of Gov. Janet Napolitano have invested in the party during his nearly four years as chairman.
Other than the 2002 outcome - a narrow win by Napolitano and the wider victory by Attorney General Terry Goddard - the Democrats' accomplishments have been largely amorphous. Pederson pointed to a beefed-up party infrastructure and volunteer corps that can be used in future elections, and greater fund-raising prowess.
Erasing 'elite' image
It will take some time for the party to sort out where to go, Pederson said. Whatever is done must inspire the middle class and rejuvenate the Democratic core of wage earners and minorities."Maybe some of these working families we've always relied on for support take a look at the leadership of the party and view us as elitist," he said. "That means we're not identifying with them anymore. We really have to work on that."
The state party will have to do it without him at the helm, said Pederson, a shopping-center developer who has poured close to $4 million in personal funds into political causes in recent years.
"I said I would do it for four years. It's time for some fresh blood and a fresh look. But I'm extremely pleased with what we've done in the time I've been chair. I truly believe it's now a two-party state despite what happened Tuesday."
Pederson could be in a position to personally test the two-party status. He is eyeing the U.S. Senate seat of Republican Jon Kyl, whose second term ends in two years.
Shake-up due
Meanwhile, the national party is due for a major shake-up, said Alfredo Gutierrez, an unabashed liberal who was roundly defeated by Napolitano in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary.Taking care not to reopen wounds by saying anything specifically about Arizona's party, Gutierrez blamed the national party's faltering standing on its shift to the right, a tactic to get Bill Clinton elected in 1992. The victory was engineered by the still-influential Democratic Leadership Council.
"Clearly, this is a party without a soul, without a mission," Gutierrez said. "It went into the hands of the DLC, whose objective was to be like the Republicans, but not be Republicans.
"When you present the people with a choice between real conservatives and those who play them on TV, they'll take the real ones," he said of the Bush-Kerry race.
"We've got to return to our fundamentals. Ultimately, a party is about ideas, and they haven't got any of those."
Opposite view
Another long-time Democrat sees it entirely differently.It would be a big mistake to turn further left in a state that has shown, with few exceptions, conservative leanings for decades, said state Senate Minority Leader Jack Brown of St. Johns.
Calling himself "a pretty conservative guy," Brown said, "I do think Democrats have moved way too far to the liberal side on some issues."
Brown, a state lawmaker for 30 years from a nominally Democratic eastern Arizona district, has felt the effects of a swing to the right by his constituents. He is still sweating out a final ballot count to see if he will return to the House, or whether both of the district's seats will go to Republicans.
"We need to look more at some of these moral issues," Brown said. "Gay marriage, for example. Eleven states voted against gay marriage, and we ought to learn something from that. Sure, give them the same property rights and other rights that everybody has, but the people in rural Arizona and a lot of other places don't want them marrying."
On abortion and religion, Brown said, "We've got to leave those alone."
But pressed on how Democrats could remain silent or retreat from their longstanding pro-choice stance in the face of opponents who make it a major campaign issue, he said he isn't sure.
Redefining 'values'
Pederson said, "Bush came across to a lot of people as the family values kind of person. I think that really translates to those wedge issues like abortion and gay rights. I think we have to get those issues on the table and have a more open discussion of them. And we're going to have to define those 'values' terms.
"We have to turn that around and say a good job is also a family value. Having health insurance for every member of the family is also a family value. Having safe and stable neighborhoods, clean air and water are also family values.
"We have to hone our message," Pederson continued, "and we have to get our base constituency back that we've enjoyed over the last 60-70 years."
Rather than engage in a liberal-conservative argument, "I want to get away from ideology," Pederson said. "I want a practical solution to the problems we face."
Party called a 'joke'
On the local level, the party came in for harsh criticism from defeated justice of the peace candidate Gary Peter Klahr, an outspoken political gadfly who is a converted Republican, one-time lawyer and former Phoenix City Council member."The party is a total joke," Klahr said. "Ask any candidate what the party did for them. Nothing.
"At the Teresa Heinz Kerry dinner, they raised $1 million for the coordinated campaign, and we assumed we would at least get some help, if not a little money. But they used it all for the top of the ticket."
Klahr agreed that the party must find a way to deliver its message with clarity to a broader constituency, "or we'll go the way of the Whigs."
"On the 'guns, gays and God' issues, the Republicans have their churches, and the Democrats have their unions. In a right-to-work state where labor isn't big, nobody's listening (to the Democrats)," he said.
Gutierrez, for his part, urged that the party combat the image of "liberal" as a dirty word.
Republicans capitalized on the term in attacking Kerry, "but this 'tremendously liberal person who's not right for Arizona' never defended his liberalism," Gutierrez said.
"You have a group of people who are embarrassed to use the term. How can you say it's not working for Arizona? These people have run away from the soul of the party."
