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Cracker Squire

THE MUSINGS OF A TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN DEMOCRAT

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Location: Douglas, Coffee Co., The Other Georgia, United States

Sid in his law office where he sits when meeting with clients. Observant eyes will notice the statuette of one of Sid's favorite Democrats.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Democrat to share his victory tips - A preview of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

Tonight I was supposed to be at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, after attending the State Committee Meeting Monday afternoon. This got unexpectedly cancelled late Sunday evening. I sure hate missing Sen. Bayh, but the below sure makes his message sound good to me.
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From the ajc:

No other Democrat looking at the 2008 presidential campaign can make the boast that Evan Bayh can: He has won five elections in a heavily Republican state by ever-increasing margins of victory. Tonight in Atlanta, the senator from Indiana plans to share with Georgia Democrats his formula for extending that winning streak to the party, in the South as well as in the Midwest.

Bayh was elected to one term as secretary of state of Indiana and two terms as governor and is in his second term in the U.S. Senate. He won re-election in 2004 by a margin of 24 percentage points, even as President Bush was carrying Indiana by an even heftier margin.

"Same day, same voters," Bayh said in an interview in his Senate office late last week to discuss his upcoming speech at the Georgia Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. "And if we take the same approach, we can win in Georgia, just like we've won in Indiana."

It isn't a revolutionary approach. According to Bayh, all it takes is holding the Democratic base and reaching out to independent voters and to what he describes as "reasonable Republicans" who recognize that "we're all in this together, and we need to make progress."

The biggest problem for Democrats, though, is Democrats themselves, Bayh said.

"Some people vote against the Democratic Party because of the substantive positions we take," he said. "But I think there's a fair number of people who vote against our candidates because of how they perceive the way we express what it is we believe. There's a sense that we're a little condescending, a little elitist. And folks will never vote for you if they think you're looking down your nose at them."

Especially in the South — "and in the Midwest," Bayh added.

Cultural issues such as abortion will remain as divisive as ever, he said, but they don't have to be as explosive as they are now. He noted, for example, that in his last election, he got the support of 45 percent of anti-abortion evangelicals because "I treat people with respect," especially when there is disagreement.

Still, acknowledging differences and seeking common ground with opponents can take Democrats only so far, Bayh conceded. They still have to overcome a big hurdle with voters, one that has plagued them for decades: the sense that they are not as capable or as vigilant as Republicans in matters of national security.

"Being tough and being smart on national security, that's clearly a threshold issue with us," Bayh said. "People need to know they can trust Democrats with their lives. If people don't trust us with their lives, they're unlikely to trust us with anything else."

The next presidential nominee of the Democratic Party is going to have to approach the issue head on, he said. And that nominee is going to have to convince voters of three things: "We know it's a dangerous world, the current administration has done much to undermine our national security, we can do better."

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