On Monday, the moderate wing of the party made a pitch for greater post-election relevance, with the group Third Way explaining that it "is crucial for Democrats to return to the center with bold and bipartisan policy solutions that are realistic in the next Congress and resonate with moderates and Independents".
The remarks were from Liliane Ploumen, chairwoman of the Dutch Labor Party, the Netherlands' largest leftist political grouping, as she struggled last year to bring the party closer to Election Day relevance in one of Europe's traditionally most tolerant societies.
But as his party met for its annual conference in this seaside resort this week, it was hard to escape the notion that only a politician of rare ability would be able to restore the Tories, trounced and marginalized in June's elections, to national relevance anytime soon.
That election has a special relevance today because David Cameron was one of the "brat pack" of young Tory apparatchiks working for Mr Major.
But the sense of relief, and the buzz around what the new president will do, is tinged by perplexity about what has happened, the implications for the future, and the relevance of elections.
This from a couple who presided over a White House famous for a scandal involving staffers who refused to fill out their security clearance forms lest their drug pasts be disclosed; this from a couple that argued in 1992 that past drug use (such as Bill's I-smoked-but-didn't-inhale shenanigans) had no relevance to elections.
"A relatively high participation rate in large cities will confirm the perceived relevance of elections, and in effect suggest that 2009 was an aberration and not the norm in the gradual institutionalisation of the electoral process as broker in Iran's competitive and factionalised politics".
That could work, though some may be put off by the in-references: the site's name is a now somewhat dated reference to the size of the US electoral college for presidential elections, and bears little relevance to the broader purpose of the new venture.
6. Relevance is relevant.
Relevance in previous election results can be a tricky call to make.
Michael Moore's exasperating blend of serious reportage and grandstanding rhetoric is receiving an unusually fast DVD debut a mere four months after its theatrical release, acknowledging both the film's relevance to the election and its limited shelf life.
