The Republicans are right now trying to claim exclusive ownership of moral values. Democrats should fight back and take ownership of American values: opportunity, tolerance, community, family, individual freedom, liberty, entrepreneurship, competition, financial security, and responsiblity.
Democrats should start framing the debate in these terms. We stand for traditional American values. We want to help people go to college, to provide financial aid, to provide affordable education, to provide well funded public schools, most of all, to provide everyone the opportunity to succeed.
We want minorities of all kind to live in a tolerant society, free of bigotry and prejudice. We want our communities to work and live together to achieve common goals, not to live in segregated or divided societies. America is a melting pot. That is a traditional American value.
We want families to be strong so we want families to have access to health care, we want our citizens to have good paying jobs so they can provide for the family's well being.
We want individual freedoms to be respected. Individual freedom is the essence of independance, what America was founded upon. We are all innocent until proven guilty. We want our society to be one of liberty for all.
We want our society not to be one dominated by large corporations. Our society is based on the individual, on entrepreneurship. Small, individual and family owned businesses are the bedrock of our economy. We want these businesses to be given a fair playing field, not to be dominated by the larger corporations. We want these businesses to have access to affordable health care. We want these businesses to be able to compete in an atmosphere that regulates and prevents monopolies from stifling competition. That is what the American economy is based on: competition, not incorporation.
We want everyone to have financial security, so we want everyone to work, to have a good paying job, to have financial security in their old age, and most of all to give people the ability to pursue happiness.
We want to govern responsibly, so we want to balance the budget and we want to protect the environment for future generations.
These are all American values and they can all be used to explain where the Democratic party stands on domestic issues.
Education: The Democratic party believes in the American value of opportunity for all, therefore we believe public schools should be well funded, and we believe higher education should be affordable, and financial aid should be made available to as many students as possible.
Health Care: The Democratic party believes in the American values of family and entreprenuership, therefore we believe mothers and fathers should be able to provide affordable health care for their families, and we believe small businesses should have access to affordable health care for their employees.
Jobs: The Democratic party believes in the American values of family and financial security, therefore we believe our economy should provide good paying jobs by legislating a living minimum wage with which a family can be supported and by incenting businesses to create jobs here in America and not overseas.
Social Security: The Democratic party believes in the American value of financial security, therefore we believe that social security should be made available to citizens who have worked their whole lives and that this security should not be risked by placing it in the private open market, but instead protecting it by passing intelligent and responsible federal government budgets.
The Deficit: The Democratic party believes in the American values of responsibility and family and opportunity, therefore we believe that the federal government should balance the budget so that we do not pass down debt to future generations, and so our children and grandchildren will have the same opportunity free of debt that we had to build their own lives and future.
The Environment: The Democratic party believes in the American values of responsibility and family, therefore we believe the environment should be protected so it can be handed down intact to future generations and so our children and grandchildren will grow up in an environment with clean air and clean water.
Energy Independence: The Democratic party believes in the American values of independance and liberty, therefore we believe it should be a fundamental goal of this country to be able to supply all of our energy needs domestically and not be forced to rely on foreign sources.
The Democratic party needs to frame the debate in these terms. The Democratic party represents traditional American values. With consistent and intelligent framing, the Democratic party can become the American party. But this needs to be done by the party as a whole. A candidate can't do this on his/her own, it is too large of a task. The party needs to claim these traditional American values as their own and give that frame to the candidate to use when they run.