One of the problems that Democrats have had in the health care debate is that they get too bogged down in the details. Republicans, especially those like Palin, Beck and Limbaugh, don't have that problem. Now, of course, it may be that they don't talk about the details because they either (a) don't care about them, or (b) don't understand them, but their lack of attention to detail helps them out.
Here's how: They make wild and reckless charges like Palin's one about "death panels" and we spend hours trying to rebut those charges. Republicans like Senator Grassley talk about "pulling the plug on Grandma" and we spend hours going through the bill to point out that it isn't true. Meanwhile, they are on to the next wild and reckless allegation.
What Democrats need to do is come up with a simple message of their own. One that is easily explained and one that happens to be true. Here is my suggestion: "Republicans don't care. They don't care if you can't get insurance because of a pre-existing condition. They don't care if you have to declare bankruptcy because of unpaid and uncomvered medical bills. They don't care if you lose your job and can't get insurance. They simply don't care."
Now you can say all of that in about 12 seconds. It is easy to understand. It is clear and it will put Republicans on the defensive. It is also true. Just look at the GOP Health Care bill that was offered in the House and the provisions it didn't contain.
If Democrats started saying this with some regularity, it would get picked up by the media. People might start asking questions to Republicans like "Why don't you care?" They would be the ones who would have to engage in long explanations about why they really do care, and why their plan is a good plan. Any comparison of the two plans is a good one for our side and a bad one for theirs.
An argument like the one above is an argument based in emotion and not just reason. People respond emotionally to arguments, not just intellectually. Yet, often it seems that Democrats are afraid to make emotional appeals for support.
Right-wingers don't have that problem. Their arguments are usually emotionally based and usually based in morality. While Democrats and progressives may think that such arguments are beneath them, or are somehow not valid, they are usually effective and they do a better job of motivating people than arguments based on policy alone.
One reason why Grayson struck a cord with his speech about 43,000 Americans dying each year from a lack of health insurance is that it was an argument based on morality and not on policy. It was simple to understand. It was buttressed by a report from a respected institution.
Except for the arguments against the war in Iraq, Democratic politicians are not as willing as Republican politicians to make moral arguments. Yet, often those arguments are the best ones they have. It is time, indeed past time, to start using them.