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We’re at about the halfway point in the legislative session and
action is fast and furious on Capitol Hill. Read the latest updates
from Utah’s newspapers in the news links at the right.
National Politics
Democrats Will Carry Berkeley for Decades
to Come
Despite calls from some Democratic leaders that the party must
project a more moderate image if Democrats want to win a presidential
race any time soon, ultra-liberal Howard Dean is apparently
going to be new national Democratic chair (see Morning
News story).
Dean’s ascension is probably good news for Republicans, although
Dean is very smart and he learned a lot, no doubt, from his bungled
presidential race. We can expect to hear a lot of soothing, inclusive
words from Dean. On one hand, Dean will bring plenty of new ideas
and techniques to the party. He broke new ground in use of the Internet
for raising money and organizing supporters. He will be a high-tech
party chair who will use the new tools of technology to the extent
possible.
But he will also be a polarizing figure. New York Times columnist
David Brooks wrote an interesting commentary
the other day arguing that part of the Democrats’ problem is
that they have become the party of college students and the educated
class, and no longer connect with average citizens.
While there are a lot of educated and wealthy Republicans, the
party also attracts blue-collar NRA followers and evangelical Christians,
which connect corporate elites to the middle class. The Democrats,
says Brooks, notwithstanding organized labor, have fewer organizations
that reach down to the middle class. So Republicans have an easier
time putting together electoral majorities.
Adds Brooks: “Over the past two years, what we might loosely call
the university-town elite has come to dominate the Democratic Party
not just intellectually, but financially as well. Howard Dean, in
his fervent antiwar phase, mobilized new networks of small donors,
and these donors have quickly become the money base of the party.
Whereas Al Gore raised only about $50 million from individuals in
2000, John Kerry raised $225 million, including $87 million
over the Internet alone. Many of these new donors are highly educated.
They tend to be to the left of the country, especially on social
and security issues.
“Many Republicans are mystified as to why the Democrats, having
lost another election, are about to name Howard Dean as party chairman
and have allowed Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy to
emerge unchallenged as the loudest foreign policy voices. The answer,
as Mickey Kaus observes in Slate, is that the party is following
the money. The energy and the dough are in the MoveOn.org wing,
which is not even a wing of the party, but the head and the wallet.
Only the most passionate and liberal voices can stir up this network
of online donors from the educated class.
“Howard Dean may not be as liberal as he appeared in the primaries,
but in 1,001 ways - from his secularism to his stridency -- he embodies
the newly dominant educated class, which is large, self-contained
and assertive. Thanks to this newly dominant group, the Democrats
are sure to carry Berkeley for decades to come.”
Success Tip: Make 10 Phone Calls
I tell my kids and co-workers that most problems in life can be
solved by making 10 phone calls. When I was a reporter I disciplined
myself to make at least 10 calls a day to keep up to speed on my
beat. When I needed information for a story, I knew that if I made
10 phone calls, I would get it.
Internet research might replace some of those phone calls today,
but nothing completely replaces working the phones, whether you
are trying to resolve a problem, find information, or you just need
a good plumber.
What happens when you make 10 phone calls is that within a few
calls you will find someone who vaguely has an idea of someone else
who just might get you on the right path. By call 4 you’re on the
scent, by call 6 you’re usually getting close, and by call 8 or
9 you usually have it.
Probably the best proof of all of this is a guy named Kimball
Thomson. Kimball, an accomplished writer, magazine editor/publisher,
and public relations professional, is now affiliated with the Exoro
Group as a senior consultant. He works the phones like no one I’ve
ever seen. I know this for a fact, because his office is right next
door to mine and his office phone, cell phone (and sometimes both
at once) are permanent ear outgrowths. He runs through thousands
of minutes on his cell phone each month and his voice mail box often
fills up.
When Kimball needs information, needs to find a particular person,
needs just the right fact or quote for an article or press release,
he’s an animal with the telephone. Kimball is walking, talking (especially)
proof that most problems in life can be solved by making 10 phone
calls.
Words to Live By
The late Pres. Ronald Reagan’s birthday was Feb. 6, and
the Federalist Patriot published several quotes by and about President
Reagan. Here are a couple:
"Families must continue to be the foundation of our nation. Families
-- not government programs -- are the best way to make sure our
children are properly nurtured, our elderly are cared for, our cultural
and spiritual heritages are perpetuated, our laws are observed and
our values are preserved. Thus it is imperative that our government's
programs, actions, officials and social welfare institutions never
be allowed to jeopardize the family. We fear the government may
be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not
powerful enough to replace them." --Ronald Reagan
"Ronald Reagan's basic beliefs were truly that -- beliefs. And
because he was a believer he did not suffer from the dismal plague
of doubts which has assailed so many politicians in our times and
which has tendered them incapable of clear decisions." --Lady
Margaret Thatcher
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