5 Ways to Turn Defeat Into Victory

Okay, we've had our noses bloodied. The Democrats have learned a lesson, but it's not what most people think. George W. Bush's win was a triumph of style over substance. Debates didn't matter. The economy didn't matter. Record budget deficits didn't matter. Lying about going to war didn't matter. Osama bin Laden going from "dead or alive" status to persona non grata to Bush campaign commercial didn't matter. No, this was about something else.

The fact is George W. Bush won this election with the smallest margin of any incumbent. Democrats have learned a powerful lesson on what it takes to win, and we've already shown we're capable of learning this lesson.

The key to Bush's win is it represents a culmination of the impressive political machine the Republicans have been building since 1964, when Barry Goldwater lost to Lyndon Johnson.

Back then, Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act, resulting in two things. First, around 80% of voters from former slave states voted for him, laying the groundwork for the Republicans' Southern Strategy. Second, the Republican Party started then to regroup and take the time to build a machine from the ground up. 40 years later, the Republicans have an army of pundits ready to fuel their echo chamber, they've taken control of the language people use to discuss politics, and they've built an uneasy coalition between Christian Fundamentalists, cheap labor conservatives, and country club Republicans.

In hindsight, it's impressive that the Democrats did as well as we did in the 2004 election, and without everyone's help, it would have been a lot worse. Democrats raised almost as much money as the Republicans, and Democrats started to build the foundation for fighting back against the Republicans political machine. It was a little naive for Democrats to believe that in a short 18 months, we could turn the tables on the Republicans 40-year-old, well-oiled, political machine. Much like how a neighborhood lemonade stand can't compete against Coca-Cola's marketing might, it will take some serious long-term effort to counteract the Republicans. The fact that we almost won is more optimistic than one could have hoped and proves we can, with some effort, win this one.

I'm sure smarter people than me will have many more ideas on how to improve ourselves, and take back the country in 2006. However, here are some of mine:

1. Say thanks to John Kerry. He ran a great campaign, and he proved himself a great leader. Kerry received the second highest number of votes in history, and we should be proud.

2. Take a break, but make it a short one. We need to continue what we started in 2003, and 2006 could be ours. It won't be easy, but momentum is on our side.

3. The Democratic National Committee should vote Howard Dean as Terry McAuliffe's successor. It's more than simply the DNC getting a "rock-star" caliber leader. Governor Dean woke up the Democratic Party from its Bush-induced stupor. Dean inspired a new generation of supporters (including me) to get involved in politics. Although we lost the election, there's no better way to show the newly invigorated supporters that our efforts mattered by making Howard Dean the new leader.

4. Democrats need to take back the language of discourse. The Democrats need to reclaim the label "liberal" and take away the power the Republicans have earned by demonizing it. At the same time, the Democrats need to remind the country of the damage being done by the fundamentalists currently leading the Republican Party. Short, simple, and to the point phrases just as powerful as "big government" and "family values". This should be easy since our ideas are better.

5. The Democrats need to continue to build an army of pundits. We need ten times as many allies, such as Al Franken, Joe Conason, David Brock, Jon Stewart, and Michael Moore. The more diverse the better.

The important thing to realize is than in one-tenth the time it took for the Republicans to build their political machine, the Democrats on our way to building a better one. Better, because we don't need style to win over substance.