Optimistic, Democrats Debate the Party's Vision

[cal04]

With Democrats increasingly optimistic about this year's midterm elections and the landscape for 2008, intellectuals in the center and on the left are debating how to sharpen the party's identity and present a clear alternative to the conservatism that has dominated political thought for a generation. Many of these analysts, both liberals and moderates, are convinced that the Democrats face a moment of historic opportunity. They say that the country is weary of war and division and ready — if given a compelling choice — to reject the Republicans and change the country's direction.

They argue that the Democratic Party is showing signs of new health — intense party discipline on Capitol Hill, a host of policy proposals and an energized base. But some of these analysts argue that the party needs something more than a pastiche of policy proposals. It needs a broader vision, a narrative, they say, to return to power and govern effectively — what some describe as an unapologetic appeal to the "common good," to big goals like expanding affordable health coverage and to occasional sacrifice for the sake of the nation as a whole.

This emerging critique reflects, for many, a hunger to move beyond the carefully calibrated centrism that marked the Clinton years, which was itself the product of the last big effort to redefine the Democratic Party. This analysis is also, in large part, a rejection of the more tactical, consultant-driven politics that dominated the party's presidential and Congressional campaigns of the last six years — the emphasis on targeted issues like prescription drugs for retirees and careful, constituent-based appeals.


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Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said, "One of the most successful right-wing ploys was to demonize any concern about the distribution of income in America as, quote, class warfare."
Many of these analysts argue that Republicans have pushed the ideological limits of the American people so far — notably, with Mr. Bush's tax cuts for the affluent and his effort to partly privatize Social Security — that Americans are ready for something different. Elaine Kamarck, a former top aide to former Vice President Al Gore, argues that the combination of the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina has driven home to Americans the need for strong and effective government, "and gets us back to our strengths — a government that can deliver."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/washington/09dems.html?hp&ex=1147147200&en=37c6253f0c776610&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[VitaLibertas]

1. We Can't Wait For The History Books........

Even under Reagan and Bush Sr et al, democrats were democrats and republicans were republicans-- we all knew who was who. We can't wait for history to "out" the real conservatives--it will; it's always the "final arbiter" but that won't help us, *today. Americans are almost totally ignorant of historical events during the 90's that culminated in the loss of a robust democratic party. We can't heal ourselves until we learn where we went wrong, but there is a tremendous amount of resistance to open forums with respect to the DLC and the Clinton admin, in general. When he entered the White House, Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate 57-43, the U.S. House 258-176 and the country's governorships 30-18. Today, democrats have been driven from their own party in disgust and we are not merely a minority party, we're a non-entity...

[newyawker99]

2. Hi VitaLibertas!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: