Open Letter to the Democratic Party

[journalist3072]

Here is my open letter to the Democratic Party:

Fellow Democrats: it is gut check time. Sure, I know we are all saddened, angry, and disgusted by the outcome of the election. I can think of a few more adjectives too! But anger alone has never gotten the job done. Not in the civil rights movement, or any other critical moment in our nation's history. What we need to engage in now is course correction. In order to move our Party into the future, we need to understand the mistakes of the past.

1. One of the most aggregious errors I believe the Democratic Party has made is the failure to learn how to get its message out, even when it doesn't have the White House. The Republican Party learned this lesson well during the 1990s. Take for example, the Republican's 1994 Contract With America. From a policy perspective, you can argue that the Contract With America was actually a hit on America, and it was. However, strategically, it was brilliant, because it allowed the Republicans to say in a single document what they stood for. It allowed them to say to America "If you give us the Congress, this is what we will do." Sadly, during these past few years of George W. Bush's failed administration, I have not seen the equivalent of the Contract With America from the Democratic Party. I believe the Democrats need to devise a strategy to get its message out, when it does not have the advantage of the White House Rose Garden as its backdrop.

2. The Democratic Party needs a more effective Rapid Response team and strategy. I do not understand how the Democratic Party and Kerry campaign could have let the entire month of August go by, without forcefully responding to the lies put forth by the Swift Boat Veterans. I understand that Sen. Kerry was intent on running a positive campaign, and I believe he did. His campaign was one of hope for a brighter tomorrow. However, that does not mean that he should have let a month go by before responding to the lies of people like John O'Neill. Most Americans believe that 1) If a politican doesn't respond to charges against them, then those charges must be true and 2) If a Presidential candidate won't defend themselves, how will they defend America?

3. The Democratic Party needs a strategy to start winning the South. According to the 2000 US Census Bureau statistics, the majority (approximately 54%) of the African-American population resides in the South. The Democratic Party continues to lose the South, despite the heavy concentration of its most loyal constituencies. In other words, many people in the South continue to vote against their own best interests, and we need to explain that to them.

4. The Democratic Party needs a more effective strategy to respond to "the culture wars." I believe in my heart that Karl Rove's strategy for this election was to have a war on cultural values (abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage/civil unions, etc) to keep the focus off of unemployment, the economy, the debt, the war in Iraq, etc. Recent reports have surfaced that after the 2000 election, Karl Rove studied why George W. Bush did not win the popular vote, and he determined that Bush did not win the popular vote because many Christian conservatives stayed home. So I believe his strategy this time was to have a war on cultural issues, in order to get Christians out. Yet somehow, we as Democrats cannot seem to forcefully get the message out that it is not a Christian value to kick children out of after-school programs, to pay for a tax cut for the rich. It not a Christian value to lie about the need to take the United States to war in a country that has never attacked or threatened to attack us. We need to say this, and say it often.

5. The Democratic Party needs to work tirelessly to end the Right's control on the media. It is a sad statement of facts that many Americans who listen to talk radio get their information (based on lies) from people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, etc. And they do not take the time to research and see if what they are being told by Sean Hannity is the truth. They just take it as the gospel; no questions asked. I am thankful for the birth of Air America Radio, but they cannot do it alone. The Democratic Party, and others who are left-of-center, need to take responsibility for getting our voice and our values heard in various media outlets (print and broadcast).

6. As Democrats, we need to learn to call a lie a lie. If anything has become apparent to me during this campaign, it's that the Republicans will do and say anything to hold on to power, especially when they feel that power slipping away. And they have lied repeatedly during this campaign. For example, on October 14, CNN held a town hall meeting with undecided voters in Pennsylvania. Kiki McClean was there to represent the Democratic point of view, and Liz Cheney was there for the Republican side. When the subject of the economy came up, Liz Cheney said "We've been through as a nation -- this president came into office, he inherited a recession." I was incredulous that all Kiki McClean could do was shake her head, and let Paula Zahn move on to the next question. Liz Cheney was allowed to tell a lie to American voters, and advance the theory that George W. Bush inherited a recession from President Clinton. Our Democratic operative should not have allowed Paula Zahn to move on to the next question. She should have turned to Liz Cheney and said "There you go, lying to and misleading the American public again." She should have stated that the Bureau of Economic Research determined the last recession began in March 2001, on George Bush's watch. Since the Republicans don't respect the truth, we have got to call them on it, and call a lie a lie.

In short, I believe we are in a fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, and the heart and soul of this country. We need to ask the tough questions of our Party. Who will speak for us in the next four years? Who will be our standard-bearer?

If we continue to fail to get our message out, then we have essentially failed America, because we will have continued to allow the Republicans to misrepresent what we stand for as a Party. We MUST NOT allow the Republicans to define who we are. We must define that ourselves, and spell it out clearly.

[NightTrain]

1. Umm.... Touch-screen voting machines with no paper trail?

Before we do any of what you suggested, we need to get rid of those goddamned things first!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Per the last line:

And start now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. And not susrernder our values, not surredner our values

oh and the DLC needs to go, it truly does

Me looking at the Green party

[Christian30]

4. Good. Necessary.

I agree with you very much.

[Ducks In A Row]

5. that so nice, but useless.

we had plenty of people voting dems, but the rethugs made sure whose votes didn't count

so instead of doing useless navel grazing, I think we'll just continue on getting rid of the rethug machines.

[journalist3072]

6. DNC

Of course, I agree that a lot of people voted for John Kerry. No argument there.

But my point is that this election should not have been even close. If the election was a landslide, they would not have been able to steal it.

My argument is that the case against George Bush was sooooo clear. He should have been in single digits in the polls.

The Democratic Party did not effectively argue the case against Bush, and that was a failure.

[Old and In the Way]

7. Well stated.

Regarding item 5, the sad reality is that the broadcast media is squarely in the Republican camp. They get to frame the issues, decide what and what not to cover, and basically look out for the Republican Party's best interests....because their interests fit like hand-in-glove.

The only real regret I have is that Kerry did not define his vision often and deeply enough. He should have committed heavily to alternative/renewable energy investments to wean our dependence on foreign oil and provide a vehicle to create new jobs here. It would have been quite effective against a Party that is in the back pocket of Big Oil.

[RevCheesehead]

8. So, your answer is a better marketing strategy?

"In short, I believe we are in a fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, and the heart and soul of this country. We need to ask the tough questions of our Party. Who will speak for us in the next four years? Who will be our standard-bearer?

If we continue to fail to get our message out, then we have essentially failed America, because we will have continued to allow the Republicans to misrepresent what we stand for as a Party. We MUST NOT allow the Republicans to define who we are. We must define that ourselves, and spell it out clearly."

********************

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think "it" is about getting out the message in a more effective way.

I am a Democrat because I believe in my heart, to the core, the values of our party. I believe that all people, of all ages, races, religion (or non-religion), sexual orientation, economic status, and whatever else I left out, are deserving of the same opportunities in life. I believe that all people have an obligation to give something back to society for enrichment and mutual growth. I believe that some matters are intensely personal, and should be left up to the individual to decide what is best for their own life (abortion). I believe that we have a responsibility to care for one another, to guarantee basic human needs (food, homes, jobs, healthcare, education). I believe that we have the freedom to worship in whatever way is best for ourselves, or the freedom to not believe in an all-powerful being. I believe that war is, in most circumstances, to be avoided, and only carried out as a means of last resort. I believe in engaging other nations, goverments, and societies, and finding ways to work together for the common good of humanity.

I don't believe that we will reach people through marketing, but instead, will touch their hearts and inspire us to a greatness which already abides within each of us. That message of hope is heard in John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bill Clinton. I heard that same message of hope from John Kerry, John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Barak Obama, Carol Mosely Brown, and so many others. The entire Dem. Convention was a soul-inspiring event, and I watched as much as I could.

I believe we need to engage the hearts and spirits of Americans. And, quite frankly, I think we did just that. It's not about "getting the message out" - it's about BEING the message, and living it to its fullest.

Hope is on the way! Keep hope alive!

[Us vs Them]

9. Is marketing a dirty word?

I don't believe that we will reach people through marketing, but instead, will touch their hearts and inspire us to a greatness which already abides within each of us.

This is true, idealistically. However, with regard to marketing, there is a certain common knowledge one can apply to politics, as well. This is true regardless of one's previous implications of the term 'marketing.'

If there's one thing this thread has taught us, it's that our message doesn't need to change; how we deliver it should be under reconsideration. This is, inherently, marketing. The product still retains its unique selling points (consumer benefits/benefits of citizens under democratic policy) only the package is updated.