Beyond the polls and the dirty tricks there is something the Bush and the GOP have that the Democrats are wanting.
We have the money.
We have as much maybe even more money than the GOP. They are deathly afraid of our 527 that is why the new attack on MoveOn.com.
We definitely win on issues.
How many times has BUSH been DEAD WRONG in his presidency...yet he is still outpolling Kerry.
We have motivated people.
It is not because that people are apathetic. Bush's presidency brought back the protest march to all its former glory. It is a shame that Kerry decided to go surfing while and stayed quiet while the people where in the streets trying their best to take this country back from the wing nuts. This is a symptom of the overall problem.
So, why does Bush win? Confidence
On par with my hero George Lakoff I have found his match
Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
After reading a bit I finally put my finger on the real problem... it is very simple the and the GOP have more CONFIDENCE than Democrats.
Not courage because I think that they are wimps, but they have boat loads of confidence. The Democratic leadership in contrast is perpetually in a state of fear. Their fear and lack of confidence is so jarring that they will "eat their own" in a blind attempt to avoid some "future" disaster.
My blood chills every time I read (here on the progressive Kos) that we have to lower our standards as to how we define a Democrat so that we can win. Win what...another Zell? The GOP never thinks that way and they don't blink when nominating a nutcase at any level of government.
In that sense Arnold is right the DNC is a bunch of girlie men and women.
Has anyone sat in on a Democratic Party meeting -at any level - local, state, national? Have you notice that they is a constant state of fear. "Oh we can't do this or that...what will the Republicans think? Or The Republican will attack us"
It is like the Dems are in an abusive relationship with the GOP and it is time for us to stand up.
Why Dean would have won?
He had confidence GALORE. But the good kind not the arrogant kind Bush has.
What about Kerry?
Sorry but with all the medals he acts like someone afraid of his own shadow. Which in turn make the whole base very nervous? You never heard this kind of hand wringing from Dean Supporters.
Confidence breeds confidence as hand wringing breeds hand wringing
Here is a summary of Kantors book. IT should be on the must read list.
From the boardroom to the locker room to the living room--how winners become winners . . . and stay that way.
Is success simply a matter of money and talent? Or is there another reason why some people and organizations always land on their feet, while others, equally talented, stumble again and again?
There's a fundamental principle at work--the vital but previously unexamined factor called confidence--that permits unexpected people to achieve high levels of performance through routines that activate talent. Confidence explains:
- Why the University of Connecticut women's basketball team continues its winning ways even though recent teams lack the talent of their predecessors
- Why some companies are always positively perceived by employees, customers, Wall Street analysts, and the media while others are under a perpetual cloud
- How a company like Gillette or a team like the Chicago Cubs ends a losing streak and breaks out of a circle of doom
- The lessons a politician such as Nelson Mandela, who resisted the temptation to take revenge after being released from prison and assuming power, offers for leaders in both advanced democracies and trouble spots like the Middle East
From the simplest ball games to the most complicated business and political situations, the common element in winning is a basic truth about people: They rise to the occasion when leaders help them gain the confidence to do it.
Confidence is the new theory and practice of success, explaining why success and failure are not mere episodes but self-perpetuating trajectories. Rosabeth Moss Kanter shows why organizations of all types may be brimming with talent but not be winners, and provides people in leadership positions with a practical program for either maintaining a winning streak or turning around a downward spiral.
Confidence is based on an extraordinary investigation of success and failure in companies such as Continental Airlines, Seagate, and Verizon and sports teams such as the University of North Carolina women's soccer team, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as schools, health care, and politics.
Packed with brilliant, practical ideas such as "powerlessness corrupts" and the "timidity of mediocrity," Confidence provides fresh thinking for perpetuating winning streaks and ending losing streaks in all facets of life--from the factors that can make or break corporations and governments to the keys for successful relationships in the workplace or at home.
So there is no use telling the people to stop hand wringing, when that is all the see coming from the leadership.