An Agenda for the Democratic Party

Energy Indepedence

Any idiot can see the problems that having no energy policy has gotten us into. No other issue has such deep implications for our economy, our environment, and our foreign policy. We do not need drastic measures, but we *do* need a steady reduction in the use of carbon-based fuels, an increase in alternatives like renewables and nuclear power, and new investments in transit across the country. And of course higher fuel standards for vehicles across the board.

Universal Health Care

I don't think it's a stretch to say the majority of Americans probably support universal health care. It just makes sense, and it's the right thing to do. More individuals, and businesses, are feeling the pinch of health care costs that are rising faster than incomes. The US spends a higher percentage of its GNP on health care than possibly any other nation, yet millions are left out of the system entirely. Hospitals are overloaded and non-profit hospitals are going bust or are deeply in the debt. The current system isn't working on many levels, foremost on providing access to health care for all Americans.

Fiscal Responsibility

I can't think of any legitimate economic or policy reason for our endless fiscal deficits. They're a byproduct of a broken ideology that says we can get all of the services we want from government without paying for them. These deficits are unfair - we're placing a tax on future generations (or ourselves as older people) for benefits we are getting now. It's like paying for a what you want by placing it on your children's credit card. And it hasn't worked out that great economically either. Since Bush has been president and instituted his tax cut policies, the stock market has barely budged, and the average American hasn't seen growth in their real wages.

The Democrats can win on these issues, because they're serious issues that are of concern to the vast majority of Americans, and they're issues where the Republicans have been absent or even counter-productive. The only missing part to this formula is that the Democrats need a clear global strategy on terrorism, something the Democrats have lacked or at least have not clearly articulated. This is a more complicated matter, so I'm going to leave it for another posting.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This would be great if we could win on issues. But the way things are now, we don't win on issues, we win on "character" -- and the GOP has been much better than Dems at character assassination. And it works. And we wouldn't even have to use character assassination, because we have the truth on our side. The current GOP really has a "culture of corruption". We didn't make it up, they are actually living it. We need to point it out. And we need to tout our own "character" in ways we haven't been doing.
Kerry should never have let the Swift Boat Liars go unchallenged.
The American public loves to say that they hate personal attacks in their politics, but they don't mean it. Because they fall for it every time. The psychology/sociology/linguistics of it is too important to ignore. We are supposed to be the ones who appreciate science -- but it's the other side who is using scientific knowledge to get ahead.
Louis Merlin said…
Yes, it's true that Democrats have to go way beyond the issues to win. But I think the issues you *can* win on are those where the opponent does not even show up. Fortunately for the Democrats, on the issues I lay out here, there is no other side. The Republicans are just pretending these issues aren't there and hoping they go away.

So although I agree with you that the Democrats need a message more than they need issues, I still think these issues are winners.
Anonymous said…
Here is an article that has some ideas I had not heard before, on why "undecided" voters are undecided. It has to do with "issues" and is really interesting.
To read the article, go here:
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=hayes111704

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