Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, a Democrat, said the party’s presidential candidates should study his election and the success of other moderate Democrats like Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.I think they have a real point here. In the past two presidential elections the Democratic candidates have tended toward the "me, too" school of campaigning. They have tried so hard to win over the independents and left-leaning Republicans that they have ultimately failed to distinguish themselves in many ways. This is really a poor strategy because the voters really have no incentive to cross party lines under these circumstances.
“We have learned a way of speaking to the middle with a pragmatic, problem-solving agenda,” Mr. Ritter said. “We have something to teach the rest of the country.”
Ms. Sebelius said, “We have figured out a way to convince voters in our states to cross party lines.”
As these Democratic governors have proven, Democrats can win in some traditionally more conservative states if they speak to the right people in the right way. The Democratic Party has some really good points going for it, if they would just learn to play them up.
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