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tions along with caucuses, committees and lobbies representing a wide variety of ethnic interests, gay and lesbian organizations, all manner of rights advocates and an infinite number of splinter factions pushing their causes and crusades.
Each of these has its own ‘agenda” which it demands that the national Democrats adopt as their own. In all too many cases, the party has attempted to accommodate them with the result that, in recent years, its total influence in terms of political effectiveness has been considerably less than the sum of its parts.
Robb addressed this problem in a notable, though unfortunately little noted, speech before the National Democratic Convention in San Francisco last summer. He pointed out at the time that if the Democratic Party was to regain its appeal to the broad body of the American electorate, it would have to learn to say “no” to some of the more strident demands of its constituent groups. It is a theme the governor has been pushing in the months since the convention.
In early December Robb, as chairman of the Democratic Governors’ Association, released an unusual book dealing with the problem. The book, entitled Facing the Facts, contained the observations of 13 of the nation’s Democratic, governors. Each governor dealt with a specific problem plaguing the national party from the perspective of the chief executive of a state.
They spoke of the problems mainly in broad-brush generalities, but their message was clear: rhe National Democratic Committee, which is to say the national Democratic Party, is not t>eing responsive to the political leeds of Democrats at the state
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