There have been a number of diaries lately about what Democrats stand for, or should stand for. Some of those have pushed negative positions criticizing Bush and the Republicans, which is certainly a necessary part of any campaign. Some have tried to come with a positive vision for Democrats. One thing I've quoted a number of times is FDR's "Four Freedoms" speech, although usually a section earlier in the speech than the Four Freedoms exposition, which I think is more directly political and remains relevant today.
Tonight on Hardball, Howard Dean did a beautiful job of stating at least part of his vision of what Democrats should stand for. The quotes below lay out part of what I think is both a winning and a necessary strategy for Democrats. I hope Dr. Dean can get the rest of the party on board with this message.
I don't think it covers everything, but it's a good beginning of what the Democratic message should be. I'm optimistic just because someone in the party recognizes what needs to be done. That it's both Dr. Dean and the Chairman of DNC just makes it that much better.
The quotes below are from responses to three seperate questions from Chris Matthews. I've added the headings. Quotes are from the
Hardball transcript.
Attack
This administration has failed America. They can't manage the budget. They can't manage the defense. If you can't manage the budget and you can't manage defense, then you probably shouldn't be president. And these guys have not been able to do the job that's required of them to be president of the United States and to be in the administration of the United States.
They control the House, the Senate, the courts, the presidency. The result is, we have the biggest deficits in the history of America; the highest number of people with no health insurance since health insurance came in; a war that doesn't appear to have an end; a constant threat from terrorists; a homeland that is not as secure.
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Vision
[F]or the first time, these guys have noticed that the Democrats are going to fight back. I am in this job because we are not going to take this nonsense from the Republicans anymore. We're not going to take what they have done to this country. This country is going to be a Democratic country, come January 20th, 2009. And we will balance the budget.
We will finally bring health insurance to every single American, as Harry Truman promised to do in 1948. We're going to restore jobs all over America. We're going to take -- make sure that people in rural America have job opportunities, not just people in the suburbs and in the cities. We're going to have a different kind of America, a new America. We're going to have honesty in government. We are -- I want this Congress, as soon as we get to be Democrats again, controlled by the Democrats again, to outlaw these trips that are being paid for by lobbyists. I want to stop the corporate corruption that's going on. And I think the Democrats are willing to do that.
Now, you know, people are cynical about government. But I'm going to tell you right now -- you know how blunt and outspoken I am -- I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Democrats control the Congress and the House again. And when they do, I'm going to do my best to hold them accountable for the things that Republicans should be doing now so that people can trust their government again.
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Tactics
We're putting organizers in every state in the country. We're not going to contest -- we're going to contest 50 states, not 18 states. We're re-messaging, because I don't think we have a national message, and we have to have one. And we're going to be, as I said, in all 50
states with a communications device, which will, like the Republicans, allow us to go on every talk show in America with a single message in a single day.
We have to build this apparatus. The Republicans are 30 years ahead of our political apparatus. If we're going to beat them, we've got to catch them. And I think we can.
We can only do it with grass-roots, ordinary Americans giving us the support that we need 20 bucks at a time. It's how we ran the presidential campaign, and that's how we're going to run the Democratic Party.