Of the many curious statements that have been made in defense of the use of smears and dirty tricks by Democrats against other Democrats, none is stranger than the idea that we "need a candidate who will do what it takes to win." The oft-seen converse of this statement is that a Democrat who cannot withstand an assault of Rovian tactics during the primary election, does not deserve to be a candidate in the general.
Both of these statements boil down to a single mantra that has gained a lot of traction among those willing to do absolutely anything and everything to beat Republicans regardless of the cost. That mantra is "Win, Then Govern." Whatever it takes.
It is almost as astonishing to me that we are debating such an ideology, as that we are debating the use of torture or pre-emptive nuclear weapons in this country. It is stunning to me that it is necessary to argue about whether progressive electoral victories should or should not come from an abandonment of progressive principles in a campaign. As well might we argue that freedom should be defended by indefinite detainment of prisoners, or that human rights be defended through the use of waterboarding.
Any progressive with the intellectual honesty to use the same arguments when talking about their own Party that they use when talking about their own Country knows that you cannot sacrifice your principles in the short-term in order to serve those same principles in the long-term. In the same way that the United States now finds itself with a double defeat--a quagmire in the Middle East at the same time that we have lost our moral high ground--so too will the Democratic Party fail to win in the short term as well as lose its moral high ground in the long term through abandonment of its core values.
The truth is this: you will govern in the same way that you campaign. Those willing to lie, smear and cheat during a campaign, will lie, smear and cheat during their time in office. A person willing to sell their soul once, will have less and less difficulty doing so again and again to achieve their ends.
So, what's the problem with that? If the Republicans could do whatever it takes to achieve their ends for 8 years, why shouldn't Democrats be able to do the same? Why shouldn't we get that advantage for a change?
The answer is that the problem with Republicans isn't really their ideology of endless corporate profits and limitless wars. The problem with Republicans is the the fact that they're willing to lie, cheat, and smear to get whatever they want. The problem with Republicans is that they have no boundaries--nothing they wouldn't say to get what they want, nothing they wouldn't do to achieve their ends. American democracy does not thrive under the thumb of such undemocratic impulses.
Endless wars and sociopathic economic policies are not a disease: they are a symptom of a disease. They are a symptom of a a diseased political entity in America that has made its home with Rovian tactics and ideologies. The personal and political impulse that outs and smears Valerie Plame in order to defend its own lies about going to Iraq, is no different from the personal and political impulse that lies about John McCain having a black love-child in South Carolina. These are not separate issues: they are one and the same issue. They are one and the same impulse.
The progressive ideology and movement is one that, when plumbed to its core, is about truth. It's about holding the media accountable to truth. It's about respecting science. It's about exposing the corruption of government to the sunlight of openness. It's about exposing the corruption of those who control the political messaging in this country, to the egalitarian impulses of the Internet. It's about creating a politics of honesty, truth, and respect for long-term, practical thinking rather than short-term ideological greed. It is no accident that one of our favorite phrases and taglines in the progressive movement is the "reality-based community."
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, those who are willing to sacrifice their basic principles to assure their victory deserve neither. Those who profess Democratic values while being willing to lie, cheat and smear to win may be accidentally on the side of the angels in the short term. In the long term, however, they are death to the very movement and political philosophy they claim to serve.
A progressive vision of America is one that depends, fundamentally, on people answering to the better angels of their natures. It is a vision that seeks to inspire us to act and look beyond ourselves to the common good, rather than retreat to the safe, mean regard for our own individual self-interest. It is a vision that is fundamentally incompatible with those who who would do whatever it takes--even at the expense of one's principles--to achieve "victory."
One can no more lie in the service of truth than one can have sex in the service of virginity.
And those who are comfortable with the ideology of "Win, Then Govern" will quickly discover that they will do neither. Not, at least, without becoming the disrespecters of reality that they were pretending to fight.