Terry the triangulator

While the Washington Post is talking about Republican in-fighting, and how that may make a hash of things for the national candidates in 2016, the Democrats are not without their own problems. The progressives are displeased with what they see as the return of Clintonian triangulation in the guise of that old Clinton hand, Gov. Terry McAuliffe:

…based on both rhetoric and action, it appears that McAuliffe is following Clinton’s “triangulation” strategy almost to the letter — praising Republicans, adopting their “framing,” dropping any serious push for progressive legislation (e.g., Medicaid expansion, clean energy expansion, environmental protection, real ethics reform as opposed to the weak/phony charade we saw this session), and basically ceding the political AND policy initiative to the Republican-controlled legislature.

Last but certainly not least, what particularly worries me about this strategy is that it leaves 2015 Virginia Democratic candidates with no overarching message. Actually, it’s worse than that; when the leader of your party says things are going great, I’m working very nicely with the Republican-controlled legislature, thank you very much, then what’s the argument Democrats are supposed to make to voters about why they should turn the State Senate back to Democratic control in November 2015?

To the contrary, the argument McAuliffe is making – just as Clinton did after 1994 in many ways – essentially says that the status quo is fine, no need to change it (e.g., by turning the State Senate back to Democratic control). I mean, as pure Machiavellian “realpolitik,” I understood it (at least on an intellectual level) with Bill Clinton, since he was up for a second term in 1996. But for Terry McAuliffe, who can’t run for governor again, it’s a bit more confusing. The bottom line message I’m hearing, though, is that McAuliffe’s assuming Republican control of the General Assembly (or at least of the House of Delegates) for the remaining 2 years, 10 months of his term, and figuring out how he might achieve some achievements (or even a “legacy”) he can take credit for during the time remaining. You can’t really blame him for that, I suppose, but it kind of leaves the House and Senate Democrats a bit high and dry, sad to say.

An interesting analysis that again shows why Republicans, despite their best, repeated, even dogged, efforts, aren’t completely down and out this year. Or next.

But let’s look a this another way…

McAuliffe’s high praise of the way this session went could be his subtle way of further stirring the GOP pot. The Macker praises you? You are obviously part of the problem and must be cleansed. Conventions and mass meetings for everybody!

That’s if McAuliffe is playing a longer game than anyone realizes. Who should be worried if he is? Not Republicans so much as other Democrats. Has anyone seen Mark Warner lately? Tell him his old boss has pinched his talking points and appears to be putting a contemporary spin on them…