Democrats 'Think' About What They Believe

The title of this post links to an article about a recently-released study by two prominent Democrat analysts that illustrates some of the challenges facing Democrats in their efforts to regain power in Washington.

In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans. On defense and social issues, "liberals espouse views diverging not only from those of other Democrats, but from Americans as a whole. To the extent that liberals now constitute both the largest bloc within the Democratic coalition and the public face of the party, Democratic candidates for national office will be running uphill."

UPDATE: On the other hand, I don't know how much faith to have in a party that needs to spend millions and millions of dollars developing new think tanks to figure out what its members believe. Here are some money quotes from this excellent article.

Even [former] Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Kinsley, no fan of the Republicans, has noticed. "It's true that the Republicans are the party of ideas and the Democrats are the party of reaction,'' he wrote earlier this month. "Republicans set the agenda, and Democrats try to talk the country out of it.''

All this raises the question: Why have Democrats been less reliant on the policy prescriptions emanating from think tanks that have documented the benefits of free enterprise? The answer provides another big reason that the Democracy Alliance will fail: Democrats continue to rely on a world view that crumbles under scrutiny.

The problem with the left today isn't that they don't have enough think tanks. The problem is they have held on to core beliefs that are incorrect. They don't need more think tanks to push their ideology. They need a new ideology.