The Democratic Party needs to develop a campaign of big ideas and vision of the future. Too long has the ideological high ground been ceded to the right. Too long has the Democratic Party leadership message been mired in minutia of issue policy specifics.
The right has focused on vague slogans and emotional appeals. The left has been losing out. The first Obama campaign showed the power of a broad, emotional vision for the future. The message of “hope” excited and motivated a huge number of citizens more than an specific policy stand.
Blinded by greed, solipsism, and hubris the right wing has no sense of honor for country. Every issue, every policy option is weighed according to a simple calculus of personal benefit. If it benefits me, my family or my allies then it gets the Aye. If it doesn’t, then Nay. Simple. That vision is what they have sold and ran on since the dawn of Taint Ronnie.
This is the ideology of “every man for himself = freedom”. This is how they justify and rationalize treasonous acts, crass extortion, and resource destruction. This is how they are undermining the foundation of a democracy for the people, by the people working to promote the general welfare.
The hypocrisy of the “run government like a business” champions is finally exposed by their uber priority to cut taxes at all costs. What sort of management puts cutting revenue at the top of the business to-do list? Vulture capitalists, that’s who. Now we have a government of vulture politicians who see public service primarily as a vehicle for self enrichment. Cabinet secretaries featherbed their cronies and spend tax dollars on frivolous personal accoutrements and luxury travel.
The right uses expert semiotics to frame all political debate in their favor, in their terms. The NRA gets to talk about gun rights, when what they really mean is gun profits.
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While I agree that health care, gun control, immigration, ending foreign wars, etc. should be a top policy priorities for Democrats, I believe the biggest problem the Democratic Party has had is being too policy centric. The Democratic Party for the past 30-ish years has lost the hearts and minds of the electorate by too frequently getting lost in the weeds of policy specifics. This has resulted in the perception of being the party of “identity politics” that splinters the base into factions. A splintered base is wide open to opposition campaigns to divide and conquer.
I see this as a main reason behind the right wing success in getting citizens to vote against their own, and the country’s, best interest.
The right wing has won by staying on their message of big picture, ideological vision. They have won by framing campaigns in idealized terms of freedom, self determination, faith, etc.
They rarely, if ever, make specific policy action positions. Instead, their policy messages are broad and sweeping generalities that appeal to emotions — pride, fear, self reliance. This has become obvious now they have acheived total control of government and have basically zero legislative agenda.
When Democrats run on vision — Hope and Change, for example — the electorate has turned out and voted for it. When they run on policy specifics without a clear, unshakable vision — e.g. Hillary — they lose.
FDR did not run on the WPA or the CCC or the TVA etc. He ran on a giving the people a New Deal for a brighter future where the people worked together AS the government for domestic tranquillity. The voters embraced the vision and gave him a mandate for carte blanche actions to make it so.
Of course, behind the scenes, the policy specifics and the team to implement them were critically important. But the vision and message were what won the hearts and minds.
It is a critical time for the Democratic Party to appeal to ALL Americans and recognize that government is NOT the enemy, that we stand together or surely hang alone, that our house must no longer be divided.
