With Democrats taking control of the House and making significant inroads in statehouses nationwide, Democrats have finally established a beachhead against the dark forces of conservatism. Now it's time to launch a full-scale assault.
More than any time in the last 40 years, events are conspiring against the conservative cause. With Donald Trump as the much-despised head of the Republican Party, and with his presidency imploding by the day, conservatives are on the defensive. Trump's shocking incompetence, policy failures, venality, and cruelty have at last stripped the thin veneer of respectability from conservatism and shown Americans the rot within.
Democrats have a tremendous opportunity to do lasting damage to conservatism--but we have to think big: not just how to win in 2020 but how to fundamentally reshape America toward liberal values.
That may sound grandiose, but it isn't really. It's an achievable long-term goal, but to accomplish it, to truly seize this moment, Democrats will need to launch an all-out ideological war against conservatism. By that I mean that Democrats must pointedly and publicly begin attacking conservatism—by name—in the same way Republicans have waged war against liberalism.
For at least 40 years now we've listened to Republicans mercilessly hammer "liberals." From Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to Karl Rove and beyond, Republicans have spent decades bashing liberals as tax-and-spend, anti-military, spineless, immoral, un-American snowflakes. They didn't just attack "Democrats." They didn't just debate issues. Their aim was to discredit the philosophical foundation of liberalism itself. And it worked. Spectacularly. Before long the word liberal became an epithet. Millions of Americans have learned to viscerally despise "libtards." To this day few Democratic politicians will publicly describe themselves as liberals; now—if they're brave—they have to call themselves "progressives."
The strategy has obviously been successful, so why haven't Democrats ever returned the favor? I hear Democratic politicians very effectively criticize Republicans, or specific policies, or individual politicians, but I rarely hear them attack conservatism.
Well, now it's time. If we are to fundamentally realign America toward liberal values, we will need to launch a relentless campaign against conservatism. We need to delegitimize not just conservative policies but their entire belief system. We need to make Americans embarrassed to call themselves conservatives.
This can be done, but it will take a strategic, coordinated, long-term game plan with four key elements:
1. Don't just attack "Republicans," attack conservatives.
Every Democrat, at every opportunity, should make clear: The problem isn't just the Republican Party or specific politicians—it's their horrid ideology. Again, the goal isn't just to win policy debates or elect Democrats—it's to undermine the very foundation of conservative thought.
2. Don't just attack conservative policies, attack conservative values.
This is a battle for Americans' hearts, not just their minds. Framing issues in the emotional language of values is extraordinarily powerful. The message is that the Republican Party has devolved into a dangerous ultraconservatism that even Ronald Reagan wouldn't recognize. It is a heartless philosophy that lacks traditional American, humanitarian, and religious values such as compassion, concern for the less fortunate, and the belief that all of us are created equal. Conservatives are:
- Immoral in their policies of rewarding the rich and punishing the poor
- Afraid of new ideas
- Narrow-minded and bigoted
- Opposed to American ideals of equality and personal freedom
- Anti-government zealots who don't believe in the ability of Americans to govern ourselves
- Fiscally reckless
- Incapable of imagining a better future
- Unworthy of leading a great nation
3. Make Donald Trump the face of conservatism.
Trump is detested by a strong majority of Americans. Nothing will trash the reputation of conservatism faster than tying it to Trump. (This will be true even after he's left office.) Though Trump is hardly a doctrinaire conservative, he is the end result of conservatism's extreme anti-government rhetoric, and he fully represents its loathsome values. Make this fool the poster boy of conservatism.
4. Paint a devastating picture of life under conservatism.
Democrats already do a pretty good job of this, but we need to make sure Americans graphically visualize the devastating consequences of the conservative ideology:
- Growing inequality, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer
- Soaring deficits
- A tattered safety net for families in poverty
- Millions of Americans without insurance
- Devastating cuts to food stamps and Medicaid
- The degradation of the environment and our natural resources
- The declining influence of America abroad
Obviously, attacking conservatism can't be our only message. All of this has to be in concert with an inspiring Democratic agenda that truly improves the lives of average Americans. And we must constantly reinforce our own deeply held American values: fairness and equality, fighting for the underdog, personal freedom, and progress.
With a smart, coordinated strategy and messaging, we can win the ideological battle against right-wing Republicanism. But to achieve real victory, we can't just fight pitched battles over policy—we need to take the war to our adversary's homeland.
For the first time in years, conservatism is on the run. It's time to hunt it down and drive a stake through its cold, shriveled heart.