Frank Rich invokes Michael Tomasky's American Prospect
essay to criticize the Democrats for focusing on "Band-Aid nostrums and bumper-sticker marketing" without articulating a "big picture" philosophy. Tomasky's suggestion on philosophy? The "
Democrats need to become the party of the common good."
georgia 10 likewise suggests that the Democrats should invoke "The Common Good" and complains that she doesn't get that "sense" from the "New Direction" agenda announced by the Democrats this week.
Did Rich and g10 even read that agenda? Because here is the very first line, and it sounds awfully familiar:
Democrats in Congress offer a New Direction, putting the common good of all Americans first for a change
g10 does the Democrats a great disservice by failing to cite to the agenda itself, and instead mistakenly citing to a speech by Reid
that was not about the New Direction agenda.
Rich does Democrats a disservice with his dismissive talk of "Band-Aid nostrums."
Sure, the Democrats have included some popular specifics in their agenda, but they also talk broadly about big issues -- achieving "Energy Independence"; requiring "Fiscal Responsibility"; and making "Health Care More Affordable."
Big issues on which progress will benefit all Americans.
Here's Tomasky again:
[Democrats] need to take the best parts of the rights tradition of liberalism and the best parts of the more recent responsibilities tradition and fuse them into a new philosophy that . . . attempts to enlist citizens in large projects to which everyone contributes and from which everyone benefits.
One final quote from Tomasky:
The common good is common sense
And here's Pelosi on Wednesday, announcing the New Direction agenda:
Our new direction will advance a common agenda, seek common ground, and apply common sense in the service of the common good.
Was this really the week to be criticizing the Democrats for not paying attention to Tomasky?
With friends like this . . .
POSTSCRIPT: It is bitterly ironic that one of the recommended diaries right now -- Frank Rich is Right -- argues that "better marketing is what we need" and then proceeds to lay out a suggested "Democrat Strategy."
Marketing 101 -- use the actual name of our party ("Democratic"), not the abbreviated name Republicans have spent 25 years trying to market us into.