I don't know enough about Martha Coakley to know for sure, but her campaign seems an example of the "Gray Davis" syndrome (named after the former governor of California).[*] The Democrats are pretty good at appointing technocrats (rather than ideologues of the sort that Dubya brought in), though they sometimes have also appointed representatives or allies of local political machines and the like. The technocrats are pretty good at rationalizing the situation that they encounter, making it work. But they also tend to be gray, disconnected with voters, and even arrogant toward them. This may fit Martha Coakley and help explain her recent loss of the seat once filled by Edward Kennedy.
Of course, technocrats aren't really anti-ideological as much as they rationalize the currently dominant ideology. These days, that's neoliberalism (so that Obama's technocrats love cap'n trade "solutions" to global warming). Back when the Democratic Party had a backbone -- formed by the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations -- and were subject to external pressure from the left (the anti-war movement, etc.), the technocrats tended to be more social-democratic (New Deal) in their policy proposals. Of course, the technocrats worked hard to avoid being under the influence of labor and the anti-warriors (etc.) This eventually contributed to their movement in the neoliberal direction away from social democracy, as did conflicts within the "Democratic Coalition" between labor and the more insurgent folks. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. [*] I remember Dubya appointing some marginally neo-Nazi woman to some high post (national archivist?) during his first year. I couldn't find it by a Google search. Does anyone remember this case? _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
