At least Max will (maybe) read these things.
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http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8087
Rising Values
Rhoades Alderson worked on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. He is now an executive with Trion Communications in Providence, R.I.
Things are not nearly as bad for Democrats as they seem to think.
It is true that if the 2002 mid-term elections were held again tomorrow the result would likely be the same. But it is also true that Democrats have made two immensely important realizations since November: they have a big problem; and the problem is that they don't have a clear message. As Adam Clymer recently noted in his broad analysis of the party in The New York Times, "If there is one thing all kinds of Democrats agree on, it is that they need a better message."
It isn't as bad as it sounds. An important point seems to have gotten lost, especially in the context of petty squabbling among the party wings. A message problem doesn't mean you don't stand for anything. It means you don't know how to say what you stand for. The difference is huge. In terms of a comeback, it is the difference between months and years. There are, in fact, big, fundamental, unshakable ideals in which all Democrats, from John Breaux to Al Sharpton -- and no Republicans -- believe. It's just that they are unprocessed and conceptually unconnected to policy ideas.
A closer look at four of these universal Democratic values reveals the power waiting to be unleashed by effective messaging. They are mainstream American values, as old as the republic. If Democrats can argue on these terms they will win a lot more arguments.
Democrats Believe Government Makes A Society More Free
Democrats believe that society requires a consensually sanctioned central authority strong enough to defend the public good against private interests that seek to undermine it. Government and its laws restrict a few freedoms in order to ensure all the others. The idea is central to the American Constitution and articulated in Federalist #10: "Among the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice."
Does John Breaux believe this? For sure. Does Al Sharpton? Yep. Karl Rove? No. Republicans believe that government makes society less free. Republican group-think guru Grover Norquist famously illustrated this view, saying his goal for government is "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." The cluster of organizations he helps coordinate is informally called the Leave Us Alone Coalition.
Democrats Believe That Governmental Oversight Of The Economy Increases Prosperity
This is really just the previous value applied to economics. Members of both parties believe that a market-based economic system is the natural outgrowth of human social behavior and creates real wealth more effectively than any other system ever tried. Democrats believe that such an economy is most efficient when a publicly legitimate central authority exists to ensure a fair and competitive environment.
Would Joe Lieberman agree? Yes. Dennis Kucinich? Yes. Tom DeLay? No. The Republican view is captured in the North Carolina Party Platform, Article II Section 2, "Government regulation and taxation reduce and redistribute income rather than create it."
Democrats Believe The Government Must Ensure All Citizens A Fair Opportunity For Economic Viability
Democrats think that if you're born here or become a citizen you deserve a fair shot at economic viability, which requires more than sheer will. It requires adequate health, housing and education. Democrats offer different solutions, but they all believe that citizens who are unable to access those standards by other means must be able to turn to the institutions that represent the manifestation of the people: local, state and federal governments.
Let's check more litmus tests. Zell Miller? Yep. Barbara Mikulski? Check. Mitch McConnell? No way. In the Republican philosophical view, government support to individuals corrupts them by making them dependents, robbing them of their will to get ahead.
Democrats Believe In Democracy, Debate And Deliberation
Democrats believe that means are as important as ends. A fair process that allows for the expression of opposed viewpoints adds legitimacy to the final decision and prevents the kind of resentment that foments revolt and dangerous instability. A fair process also allows for the possibility of being persuaded by an opposing viewpoint. It accounts for the humbling fact that absolute "rightness" does not grace our earthly existence.
Bob Rubin? Yea. Rosa DeLauro? Yea. Dick Cheney? Big nay. Every national Republican leader since Nixon has justified a deliberate bypass of the democratic process either through an assurance of greater morality or a cynical belief in the law of the jungle. Nixon had Watergate, Reagan and Bush 41 had Iran-Contra. Bush 43 has, well, take your pick.
It has been a long time since the party has been forced to justify its existence -- so long that its values have migrated from the mind to the gut. They have always been available to the heart, but became lost to the tongue.
The presidential primary offers a great opportunity for candidates to articulate these kinds of "higher purpose" beliefs and to explain how they guide and inform their platforms. If the candidates can take this crude oil and turn it into gasoline, they will not only give themselves the best chance to win; they will give a majority of Americans the chance to vote Democrat again.
Published: Jun 13 2003
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