Be a National Security Owl, not a hawk or dove

ILLUSTRATED: Be a national security owl, not a national security dodo.
“Be tough and smart” is supposedly the Democrats’ new mantra. It’s not too bad. But if hawks are strong and doves are peaceful, owls are wise. I like “Be a national-security owl”. In the wake of 9/11, the American people were receptive to raw strength, and a good vs. evil worldview. The notion was that simplicity was the key to national security leadership. Thinking people, it was said suffer paralysis by analysis.
Thinking people can be action oriented, and there are “simple minded” people who are overly cautious. Think of John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill. They were intellectuals who took bold action. They are the prototypes for a Democrat to model themselves after.

It is indeed about values, and we're on the American People's side

ILLUSTRATED: Campaigns are about convincing the voters that you will best handle the issues based on their values.

The Stem Cell Veto was the big domestic story today. Listening to the Ed Schultz show today I heard a Republican caller praise President Bush for standing up for his values, against the will of the people and Congress. While the caller was wrong in his policy conclusion, he was correct in his political analysis. This is indeed about values, and we Democrats need to take it right to the voters this fall.

On February 16 and March 14 of this year, I posted about how branding a party and a candidate is really about persuading the voters to trust you to handle the issues according to their values. This stem cell debate is just the chance we need: Democrats stand for X, Bush stands for Y. Repeat the rhetorical mantra with the minimum wage, bankruptcy, conservation, and of course redeployment in Iraq.

Caution: remember the messenger is the message. Since most communication is non-verbal, is you present yourself like a freak (outside of maintream values and lifestyles) your words will backfire. Like numerous past posts say, present yourself well when conveying our party's values.

Illustrating the Economic Royalism of the 109th Congress

ILLUSTRATED: A free market must be a fair market. The interests of big business are not necessarily best for a free market.

The Bankruptcy bill and the Class Action bill are really the only substantive things that this Congress has done. They are both policies designed to empower big business. Here's an example that's an easy way to explain it:

"Let's suppose there is a coal mine that is operating in violation of several safety laws. Lo and behold, there is an accident with deaths and dozens of injuries. The families in town have lost their breadwinner and can't pay their bills. Easy enough so far...

The class action reform bill, removing cases to federal court, is designed to make it harder for the families to hold the Coal Mining Company accountable. But the Bankruptcy bill makes it easier for the Credit Card Companies to hold the families accountable.

Not only does this offend the sense of Equity in the American people, it is not economically Efficent. This slashes part of the consumer base in the local economy (not big business' concern). Nationwide this impedes the initiative of would be entrepreuers (definitely in Big business' interest). But it harms the free market and the public interest."

The two big ironies in American Politics today

ILLUSTRATED: Democrats need to explain in concrete terms why working government is needed. Democrats also need to train local campaign organizations.

Here are two realities in politics today that have me baffled:

Irony #1
Involvement of government in our lives.
If you live in a city, you interact with the government all the time: the city manhole worker, the cop directing traffic, the public transportation system. You yourself might even work for the government. But if you live on ranchland, you don’t interface with government in a tangible, visible way.
Hence, city dwellers are used to government and vote for Democrats, and rural voters aren’t used to government and vote Republican.
But if you look at the way federal tax dollars are spent, the big, urban states subsidize the small rural states link. Yet rural voters voted in the president and congressional majority that is bent on dismantling the federal government’s role. We need to turn this around.
Democrats in the Rockies are gaining ground because they are articulating in concrete terms why working government is important. Whether you are talking about visible public school buildings or intangible agriculture subsidies, we need to make it clear to voters in our districts why competent, working government is needed.

Irony #2
Investing in People
The Republicans in DC and many statehouses are working against the public education system, trying to save money and believing that “not everyone can be a ‘chief, we need some Indians’, so we shouldn’t fully educate everyone”. We Democrats believe that by reinvesting national wealth in people we get a stronger nation, since more people are rising.
Yet look at the way the parties run themselves. The GOP and the conservative movement invest tens of millions of dollars in training their people to be candidates and operatives. Our party is run by a bunch of private businesses in DC who have no incentive to share their knowledge and information.
The GOP is living by our ethos and they are winning. We are acting like economic royalists, and we are losing.That’s why it is critical what Howard Dean and numerous progressive groups are doing by setting up training sessions to compete. Our local organizations need to be professionalized so we are not so dependent on professional consultants. Consultants should advise campaigns, not run them.

The Rule of Law, not the Rule of Bush

ILLUSTRATED: There needs to be a process for terror suspects being held out of a war zone.
Expect the GOP to make hay out of the Supreme Court's ruling that terrorism detainees are entitled to regularized rules of evidence, and rules of procedure. I suspect they will roll out a draconian set of rules in tht hope that intellectually honest Democrats vote against it, thereby opening us up to charges that we are soft on terrorism. The same gambit as in 2002 with the issue of protections for the professional workers in the new Homeland Security Department, i.e. Max Cleland.

Here is what to say: "The Supreme Court ruled that Bush cannot set up Kangaroo Courts for anyone he claims is a terrorist. These courts must have rules set by Congress, and a process reviewable by the judicial branch. We understand the special need for security, but a legal process strengthen's America's moral standing which is our biggest asset."

Reponse to GOP attck that we are unrealistic about war: Military tribunals are for emergency situations when there is no time or option to try suspects. The fact that these detainees have been held so long is all the more reason that there should be a trial, since there is obviously no rush...The Supreme Court is NOT telling the president how to conduct a war. Once prisoners are outside of a war zone, the Constitution mandates that suspects be given some type of process set by Congress and reviewable by courts. That's the American way, and that's the best way.