Redefining Democrats? There are essentially two indictments of the left as consistently mentioned in the mainstream media (or MSM, the anachronym used often by conservatives): The Democrats let their left-leaning base hijack the Democratic party; and the Democrats need to reconnect with middle America using the Moral Values issues.
Both are wrong. Completely wrong. The Democrats do not need to connect with middle America using the Moral Values issues. Democrats espouse moral values. How brilliantly the Rovian strategy plays out past the election! Karl Rove and the Republicans created a Moral Values dilemma by unfairly promoting a wedge issue. It is our achilles heel. We can't marginalize these people in the interest of appearing mainstream, and we can't embrace them in the interest of proving our inclusivity. It is a weakness for which we paid dearly. Do we abandon our base? Do we abandon the gay and lesbian issue?
No. We don't. We remain the party we've always been, accepting of gays and lesbians.
We just need to be smarter in how we address those attacks against our plank. It is very likely that Gavin Newsom in San Francisco created the mess that pushed Gay Marriage into the national consciousness in such a way as to create a backlash. That he shouldn't have allowed gays to marry isn't the point. He shouldn't have allowed gays to marry in an Election Year.
Our other achilles heel is the abortion issue, though it is not as divisive an issue as the MSM believe. There are far more pro-choice conservatives than there are anti-choice liberals. Democrats have faith that the pro-choice conservatives will enjoin the fight to keep abortion legal and safe.
The absolute truth is there aren't any moral issues that separate Democrats from the "heartland." The Republicans have been brilliant in the ways they create a false sense of that.
Where Democrats have failed is in allowing Michael Moore and MoveOn.org to become the defacto voice of the liberal left within the party. The largest tool in their toolbelt is anger. Anger at Republicans and anger at George Bush. Anger is a motivating force, but it is a lousy messenger. It is a terrible messenger, because not only does it cloud the message, it DECIDES which message to broadcast.
MoveOn.org became a very good anti-War mouthpiece. They were on top of events, statistics and the misinformation that was disseminated by the Bush Administration. They would have served their constituency if they had remained just that. The problem that MoveOn experienced is almost entirely borne of anger. They chose sarcasm and anger to bring forth their message rather than PERSUASION.
As an example, MoveOn enlisted the help of their members in choosing video advertisements to air on national television. There were some very creative minds behind many of these videos. Some of the messages were very direct (and angry), while others were more subtle and thought-provoking. When the membership chose the videos to broadcast, they invariably selected the ones that appealed to the base - venting anger, frustration through cynicism and sarcasm. How very bold, how very compelling...to a liberal. When it came to choosing those videos that appealed to middle America or Bush supporters, most members opted for the emotional angry message. These are the very messages that seem to be at the heart of the loss of influence the Democrats are experiencing right now.
There is a problem with liberal anger. Liberals have been the object of much derision, negativity and ridicule by the right, ever since George McGovern's failed bid for the presidency. McGovern allowed liberalism to ascend to the ranks of the demonized, and Jimmy Carter cemented it there. Liberals are right to be angry, but wrong to employ it in politics. Politics are as conniving and underhanded as ever. The power comes in the deception, not in the appeal. Until the liberal wing of the Democratic party realizes that you catch more flies with honey, they'll consistently remain outside of the political power circles, as angry and marginalized as ever.
There will be a lot of soul-searching (to borrow a cliche from the MSM) by Democrats, and Michael Kinsley has exactly the right self-examination and apologies in mind when Democrats ponder what they should do.
This election was not about Moral Values. It was not about Terrorism. This election was about a fairy tale complete with immoral ogres and evil nymphs who wait to pounce upon the unsuspecting God-fearing, true-American citizen of the heartland. It is a story so compelling, it has the ogres and the nymphs wondering how they became so evil. The storyteller? None other than that masterful weaver of yarns himself, Karl Rove.
