"Unmitigated Disaster" for Southern Democrats

This story from the Birmingham News points out the huge losses incurred by Democrats here in Alabama and throughout the South:

In the South, five formerly Democratic U.S. Senate seats were up for grabs. Republicans swept them all.

On Capitol Hill, Republicans have fattened their Senate majority to at least 55 with a batch of young conservatives likely to be deeply loyal to President Bush and his agenda.

Of the 22 Senate seats located in the states of the Old Confederacy, Republicans will now hold a historically unprecedented 18.

On Tuesday's ballot, the re-election of U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, to a fourth six-year term was no surprise. But Democrats lost all three state Supreme Court races, meaning that the high court will be entirely Republican for the first time since Reconstruction. Democrats also didn't come close to regaining any of the five congressional seats held by GOP officeholders.

President Bush carried some predominantly white rural counties, such as Choctaw, Colbert and Jackson, that have remained Democratic strongholds in the state Legislature.

With the exception of 1998, the state Democratic Party has now given up ground in every election in the last decade.

The demise of the Democratic Party in the South is not necessarily something to be welcomed by conservatives. Lively, constructive competition between two mainstream political parties is healthy for democracy. It ensures that divergent points of view are debated openly, reduces the potential for corruption, and inspires greater confidence in the political system. While the Republican Party is far from reaching the level of dominance that the Democrats enjoyed for decades in the South, present trends could soon make it impossible for Southern Democrats to reverse their fortunes.

Democrats in the South and other "red states" need to do some serious soul-searching and develop a realistic plan to remain viable. They should take this plan to the national party, quietly but firmly engaging the leadership in a discussion about the party's direction.

The Democrats' internal deliberations should focus on the issues that most deeply divide the party and the nation, primarily social issues, foreign policy, and defense. There are a few obvious things that the Democrats could do to ensure that they remain a national party and to enhance their competetiveness with Republicans.

1. In order to defuse tensions surrounding the social issues that so deeply divide the party and the nation, Democrats should adopt policies that would allow those matters to be resolved by the states. In addition to restoring the federal principles of the Constitution, this would effectively counter Republican efforts to nationalize those issues to the detriment of red-state Democrats. It would also alleviate regional divisions over abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, and control of illicit drugs.
2. To address the party's "soft" image on defense and foreign policy issues, it should defer to its moderates, conservatives, and "responsible" liberals to forge a consensus with the administration and Republicans in Congress in dealing with Iraq and the broader war on terror. Democrats can best contribute to a "smarter, more effective war on terror" by lending their support and advice to the administration.
3. Democrats have always billed themselves as the party of the "common man." They should come to grips with the reality that the definition of "common man" has changed over the years. Today, he owns his own home and has an automobile or two, a home computer, access to the internet, and is likely to invest in a 401(k) through his employer. In recognition of that new reality, Democrats should embrace what the President has called the "ownership society." They can begin to do this by contributing to Social Security reform in a meaningful way. They don't necessarily have to adopt the administration's approach, but should come up with credible alternatives. Otherwise, they will be left out in the cold on what may well be the most far-reaching domestic issue that the Bush administration addresses in this term.

If the Democrats are to survive as a national party, they have to give the moderates and conservatives in their ranks room to breathe. Commitment to a renewal of federalism, a responsible foreign and defense policy, and to using the opportunities of our "ownership society" to improve the lot of the common man would do just that. It would also return the party to the good old days when it was more of an incubator of ideas than a coffin.