I don't usually read David Brooks' columns in the NY Times, but the title of a recent one, What Independents Want, caught my eye because that's something I've been writing about.
CROSS POSTED FROM FLAPOLITICS.COM
He makes the correct point that in statewide elections independents determine the winner and that they are highly volatile. He then goes on from this true observation to his usual mushy thinking.
He makes a wonkish claim that to win these voters politicians should talk about the need to diversify the economy so that we can be a great nation again and how government needs to confine itself to core tasks.
This ideologically motivated statement is typical of conservative pundits and politicians and self-contradictory on its face.
Brooks doesn't explain how the economy is supposed to diversify without some government intervention, nor why, if this change is supposed to occur through private efforts, politicians need to be championing the idea.
But it was the last paragraph in the column that I want to quote, because I agree with it.
Independents support the party that seems most likely to establish a frame of stability and order, within which they can lead their lives. They can’t always articulate what they want, but they withdraw from any party that threatens turmoil and risk. As always, they’re looking for a safe pair of hands.
This is why recent events in Florida bode well for Democrats in the statewide elections.
The flare up between Gov. Crist and his opponent Marco Rubio is getting national attention, with Club For Growth putting out a negative commercial against Crist already.
But two other statewide races, for governor and atttorney general, have recently drawn serious primary opponents on the Republican side. And they're both women running against establishment men.
The bottom line is that all of this infighting and negative ads are going to cause turmoil in the minds of independent voters. Just the kind of thing that Brooks is saying they don't like.
The only Democratic statewide primary with serious opponents is the Attorney General race, and it is possible some accommodation could still be worked out there.
That would give the Democrats an enormous advantage among independent voters. As the man says, they're going to be looking for some safe hands to take them through these difficult times.
