Nationalizing the Election in a Bad Year

One of the most dominant kinds of conventional wisdom among Democrats in a cycle which is moving against them is to not "nationalize the election". The thinking by the political consultants and high level staff people, which can seem very compelling when you are being battered by a rising tide, is that your best path is to run on local issues and/or to attack your opponent on whatever personal or political weaknesses they might possess. I understand the sentiment, and am very sympathetic to candidates who feel alone in a year when the narrative and frame is all running against you. I also fully recognize that a lot of the candidates such as Tom Perriello and Mary Jo Kilroy who courageously defended national Democratic issues and themes did not save themselves from getting swept away.

Having now lived through two massive meltdowns in national Democratic politics, 1994 and this stinker, I have become convinced that while it doesn't always make sense to push the national party brand in each individual district/state in this kind of year, that for the national Democratic party to not run a national campaign and make a full throated defense of the Democratic brand and accomplishments is a big mistake that only helps build the tide against us. I think this race-by-race, no national message strategy helps explain why 1994 and 2010 were such complete blowouts for us, whereas in the good years Democrats have had in the past couple of decades- which include 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998 as well as even the last two cycles before this one- our gains have been relatively modest compared to the butt-whipping we experienced in '94 and this time. Republicans and their conservative allies always defend their small government/low taxes/strong on national security/traditional values brand and accomplishments. Even when they are critical of their party, their criticism always revolves around stuff like "we drifted from our small government roots"- in fact, they reinforce their brand even while creating some distance from an unpopular national party.

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