There's a lot of uproar about the DCCC ads featuring flag-draped coffins. While I understand why there is an uproar, I also see a big opportunity for the Democratic party to use ads in a different way.
It's obvious that the GOP has no plans to run the 2006 campaign as a referendum on Iraq. It's a loser as an issue unless it's included in the "war on terror" issue, which is so ambiguous it may as well include loving mom and apple pie. The first gutteral response then is to definitely unleash all kinds of attacks on their horrendous record on Iraq since that's the GOP's weakest point.
However, this is another example of the GOP shaping the form of debate in the public circle. It's not that we shouldn't be talking about Iraq...we definitely should. But I feel that we might have success using the GOP model to push our winning issues. I'll explain why after the jump...
Since 2000, the GOP has used wedge issues to turn out their base and cause independent/moderate minded voters to question the Democratic approach. This has been passing for political discourse for the last 6 years. The GOP knows they can't run on their record, so they create fringe issues that work well for them. While we attack their weaknesses, they trot out their strengths and hammer them into the ground.
When we say "We need a new direction in Iraq!", they say "Gays can't be allowed to get married!"
When we say "The deficit is skyrocketing and crippling our future!" they say "Fence in the borders!"
When we say "No more wireless wiretapping!" they say "No more flag burning!"
Since they cannot run on their record, they run on mythical "feel good" issues that aren't the major concerns of our country; how it should be governed, how we see ourselves, and what we plan for the future. I realize that for each individual issue, yes, it's very crucial to the people most directly affected. I think that progressives and Democrats can best affect those issues once we've earned the right to govern. We haven't done a good job at all of folding those fringe issues into an overall theme that projects what the Democratic Party offers in terms of leadership.
My suggestion, then, is to take a home run, winning issue and hammer it into the ground. I think the minimum wage issue fits this perfectly. What's to keep the Democrats in Congress from gumming up the works as much as possible and demand an up or down vote on the minimum wage? If polls are correct, there's something like an 80% favorable rating for a raise in the minimum wage. It's a winning issue for Democrats. Why isn't it our lynchpin?
Maybe my ideas are a bit crazy. So far, though, being reactionary hasn't worked for the Democrats. Every few months, the GOP sets the agenda (and yes, I know...the party in power gets to choose the agenda) and we're caught scrambling around looking for a savior in response to issues the GOP knows are surefire winners for them. Are the Democrats in Congress too fractured to keep to a simple, effective message? Are there other issues we can bundle with the minimum wage issue to keep the merry-go-round running smoothly? Surely we cannot take back Congress solely on minimum wage, so we definitely need something to run on. Gloom-and-doom scowls aren't going to win back Congress. Being anti-Bush and anti-GOP isn't enough. We must show we're ready to govern and we can do that by pushing our winning issues.