What is wrong with the Democratic Party? Why do some commentators and many voters believe we are losing our soul? Why are the Republicans in control?
We face two great national challenges: getting our fiscal house in order and keeping the country safe. Republican policies are failing miserably to meet the first challenge, and many of us feel that our mistakes in Iraq are creating more terrorists than we've killed or captured and are making us less safe.
But the Republicans are winning elections anyway. Why? Maybe because they have a simple, understandable and popular two-step program: cut taxes and shrink government. They even have a snappy name for it, "starving the beast".
But when they starve the beast while spending more on defense and security, a fiscal meltdown is unavoidable, resulting in higher taxes, higher interest rates and economic stagnation.
But Republicans are still winning. So what is wrong with the Democrats? What do we need to do to start winning again?
First, let's advocate our own two-step program: balance the budget, then invest in people. Can it be done? See Bill Clinton and his budget surpluses and booming economy.
Second, we must acknowledge that we have a real problem. Too many Americans feel that the Democratic party is soft on national security, has weak moral values and dishonors religion, and is too liberal on cultural issues.
Now, those accusations are bogus, but perceptions can become reality in the minds of voters, so we should start by fighting back.
We are not soft on national security. Democratic presidents have led this country valiantly in wartime, and members of both parties in Congress - to this day - vote for the money to wage those wars and fight terrorism. And Democrats also know that we are even safer when we work with, not against, our traditional allies and when we embrace a multinational approach to foreign policy, not a go-it-alone, cowboy diplomacy.
Weak moral values and disrespectful of religion? Not the Democrats I know. Most of us are people of faith, just like most Republicans. We are guided by the teachings of Jesus, Mohammed and the Jewish prophets. It's just that we don't campaign against the other guys claiming God favors only our platform. And Democrats have the most moral and traditional of values underpinning our policies: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, caring for the elderly. Those are biblical values, for heavens sake, that should make us proud.
Are we too liberal on cultural issues? No, but maybe we are too tolerant. We care most about growing and sharing the economic pie. So we champion not just the successful and well connected but also those that struggle and toil every day, and the least, the last and the lost among us. Some of those people and some of those causes are unpopular.
But do Americans really want their national elections fought over abortions, gun safety and gay rights, as Republican operatives seem to think? Those issues attract a lot of Democratic support but they don't define our party and we shouldn't let the Republicans claim otherwise. Let's face it: Democrats won't make you have an abortion, take your gun, or turn you gay.
Back in power, what would the Democrats do? We would ask all Americans, particularly the successful and well connected, to pay their fair share of taxes and bear their share of sacrifices in restrained spending to get our fiscal house in order and continue to keep the country safe. And we would invest any restored budget surpluses in health care, public schools and job creation.
The fact is that we embrace, just like Republicans, the beauty of individual liberty and the economic magic of the free marketplace. But unlike the governing GOP, Democrats also believe in public action for public good. We know we are all in the same boat. We see government as a necessary and positive force that, when properly used, will improve the quality of everyone's life.
So how do we turn things around? Let's start by facing the facts, fixing mistakes and fighting like hell.
We need to listen to the voters who have been rejecting our message. We need to sharpen that message to respond to the real concerns of Americans, not to the spin of the other side. And we need to believe in our message and in ourselves.
If Democrats respond to the demands and the hopes of the public marketplace with simple authenticity and passionate conviction, then we will win.
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