William & Mary Policy Review

WILKERSON--Blogger (and Research Director at the Independence Institute) David Kopel gave the following description of his answer to a question from the National Journal poll of political bloggers:

'Question two was “In light of the off-year election results, what’s the bigger political priority for the Democratic/Republican Party right now?” Eighty-six percent of the Left said that motivating the base should be the biggest Democratic priority. Sixty-seven percent of the Right said that the biggest Republican priority should be winning independents. I volunteered the Republicans need to do both: “As C.S. Lewis once remarked about the faith vs. works debate: ‘It does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.’ Winning parties motivate their base and win independents — as McDonnell and Christie both did.”'

I could be wrong, but I see the "base" and "independents" as two very different groups of people--on opposite sides of a given party. That is, the Democratic base is toward the left within the party, and the independents are just outside the right border. The Republican base is toward the right within the party, and the independents are just outside the left border. If what Kopel says is true, then a successful politician will have to present two messages at once: one for the rabid, and one for the lukewarm. How politicians do this is the trick--getting power means playing for everyone at once. You play for the partisans, getting them excited enough not only to vote and to carry the message to the lukewarm. You play to the lukewarm to feel better with a vote for you than one for the other candidate. So, how is it that a politician can give a message that's hot enough to rile up the rabid yet comfortably lukewarm to lull away the undecided?