And Think of England

By Dave Anderson:

1)  Get your knees up

2)  Relax

3) Think of England

That is good advice in two situations.  The first is in the fraction of a second before one is hit by an oncoming car as becoming a reed flexing in the wind (or through the windshield) is far safer than attempting to be a boulder that the car can not run through.  The other was good advice for striving upper-middle class Victorian era brides on their wedding nights.

Evidently Matthew Yglesias thinks this advice should also apply to Democratic voters who are not motivated to vote in 2010:

So it�s also worth sparing a few words for the potentially demoralized
voters who are considering staying home. To wit: Grow up. Nobody ever
accomplished anything in politics by not participating. Going to vote
on Election Day is not a monumental demand on your time, and there is
not a single problem in American public policy that will be made easier
to solve if liberal stay home on Election Day. If you contribute money
or time to political campaigns and you�re disappointed with people
you�ve given to or volunteered for in the past, you should of course
feel free to decline to offer your cash and services in the future.

The vast majority of progressive Congresscritters are in comparatively safe seats.  The Blue Dogs are the ones at risk.  But beyond that pragmatic concern, Yglesias has no concept of leverage as the plebes are supposed to shut up and take whatever crumbs are handed down from their betters. Democrats voted for Democrats to implement Democratic policy, and most Democrats are rationally ignorant of the differences between reconciliation, ping-ponging, conference and managers amendments.

They just know that elected Democrats can't pass healthcare, they just escalated a war that most Democrats oppose, abortion rights are still getting chipped away at, gay and lesbian rights are not advancing at the state level in Blue States.  Sure, Republicans will be worse, but only by degree and not categorically worse.  If liberals vote for Blue Dogs and endorse a Blue Dog bone throwing caucus strategy, then they endorse the policy results that will predictably result.  If Democrats deliver on a couple of the generational promises with 60 votes in the Senate and 59% of the House, then shockingly, Democratic voters will want to reward their representatives to continue enacting those promises. 

Getting your knees up and relaxing is a great way to survive a car wreck.  It is not a political strategy.