If I were The Democratic Party, and not just another member of it, this
is what I'd do:
A) Stop all the talk about how the Democratic Party ain't left enough.
That's not the problem.
A left wing party in this country will never win elections in the current
political environment.
The US is a conservative country, like it or not.
B) Define the Democratic Party as the party of economic opportunity.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be rich.
There's something very wrong about people who have power and money
using their resources to keep others from experiencing their fair opportunity
to realize the American Dream and to tilt the political system to their
own advantage.
And that is what the Republican Party is all about. Where were
the national TV ads with Harvey Pitt in a dark grained photograph and a
grimace juxtaposed to statistics of corporate crime, pension losses, unemployment
and stock market losses?
C) Define the Democratic Party as the party of social justice.
That's simple. No explanation required.
The Democratic Party believes in equality of opportunity. Simple.
As such, the Democratic Party should
promote job training programs and subsidies for child care for working
women.
D) Get some balls and put together a tough, aggressive, and coherent
foreign policy statement that reflects the hawkish
tilt of the American people when it comes to the War on Terrorism.
The Democratic Party too often comes off like the
party of whining peaceniks. In the case of opposing the Bush's
push for war in Iraq the party needs to keep hammering
on "Where's Osama?". I never heard any Democrats harping on that.
They gave Bush a free pass and let him set the
agenda for the campaign. I'd have been embarrassing him constantly.
I kept wondering where were the TV ads with
Bush saying we'll get Osama "Dead or Alive" juxtaposed to images of
the recent Bali bombing? A voiceover could
have kept saying that Bush "promised to get Osama Dead or Alive, but
Al Qaeda is getting away while Bush pushes
a war of revenge for his Daddy's mistake in Iraq." The democrats
could have nailed Bush on that. But no, they gave
him a free pass. Over and over again the Democrats gave over
to Bush. Is there some kinda freakin' conspiracy here?
E) And to elaborate one more time on the main thrust of item (D)...
get some goddamn balls. And get a freakin' killer
instinct somewhere. The democratic party leadership is flaccid
and weak. The Dems deserved to lose. The fact that
despite Bush's maniacal campaigning the GOP still only just squeaked
out victories in Minnesota and Missouri speaks
volumes. With a little inspirational leadership the Democrats
have the numbers. But that leadership is missing.
F) The Democratic Party needs to be the party of responsible protection
of the environment and use of resources.
This means balancing environmental and labor concerns. Something
the Democratic Party doesn't do very well.
That's it for starters. I'm sure there's more. But that's
my two cents worth.