Tuesday night we heard what the president stands for, and we didn’t much like it.
Now... what do Democrats stand for?
My new book POSITIVELY AMERICAN: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time, tries to answer that question. I’m eager to have a conversation about it here, since so much of the book is about the next generation of the Democratic Party and so much of that generation will be defined on websites like DailyKos.
2006 was a great victory – no question – thanks in large part to our tactical improvements (kudos to the blogosphere!). But in 2008, no matter how good our candidates are, no matter how good our tactics, if we are not able answer that basic question we Democrats are asked all the time – what do Democrats stand for – we are all too likely to lose. If we can answer it, we will win in 2008 and Democrats will define politics for a generation to come.
The Republicans used eight words – war in Iraq, cut taxes, no gay marriage – to define themselves and win the middle-class in 2006. Each was a concrete policy tied to a deeply-held value (i.e. war in Iraq – strong foreign policy; cut taxes – smaller government; no gay marriage – traditional values). What are our eight words?
That’s what Positively American is about. The first part of the book describes some war stories – my improbable Senate election in 1998 and the next to impossible take-over of the Senate this past fall – and includes colorful anecdotes to describe where, as a country, our political process stands. A lot of it boils down to a large group of American voters who are too often ignored by too many of us in Washington: the middle-class.
In the book, this group is seen through the eyes of Joe and Eileen Bailey. Joe’s an insurance adjuster and Eileen works part-time in a medical office; they have three kids and live in Massapequa, Long Island. Though they’re a fictional composite, to me, they represent all the middle-class families who work hard, play by the rules and too often feel like government is out of touch with their lives.
The second part of the book – "The 50% Solution" – presents specific but ambitious goals, to be achieved within ten years, that are a promise to the middle class. For each goal, there are novel solutions and a discussion of why I am convinced they are critical to our country’s future and winning over the middle class. While I don’t believe we are ready now to generate our eight words – not enough discussion and thought about a comprehensive platform and vision has gone on in Washington – I believe these goals will help lead to our eight words. I look forward to future discussions in the blogosphere to move toward that goal.
You can look at the 50% Solution here. The bulleted descriptions alone are not enough to fully describe why I believe the ideas are so important for our party and the country (I’ll come back when more people have a had chance to read the book), but it’s a starting point and – while you may not agree with my framework or with all of my ideas – I’m eager to hear your thoughts on them.