The State of Response to the State of the Union

As I laid back in my father’s big blue easy chair here at my home in Walterboro, I was living the good life. I was deep into Bill Clinton’s autobiography, My Life, and thinking about just skipping to the oral sex part (it’s 1,000 pages - give me a break). No homework, no studying, it was the new year, and I finally had some time to sit back and read a book I actually wanted to read. I also had C-SPAN on in the background, because I’m just cool like that, and as I was not so attentively listening to a press conference by a conservative women’s organization that supported Supreme Court nominee (now Justice) Samuel Alito, a group of liberal women stormed in – I’m guessing uninvited – with faux blood painted on their shirts chanting “Bush and Alito will outlaw abortion and women will die.” At that moment, my relaxing afternoon took a turn to negative town, as my political frustration pipes burst from the stupidity.

What would make this group think that storming into a press conference with blood on their shirts, chanting that the President and his nominee will indirectly cause the deaths of women, could possibly turn out positive for their side? This seems to happen quite often to us Democrats - some radical activists do something without thinking of the political consequences and wind up hurting the entire party. This is one example of the kind of thing that Republicans can use against the Democrats, and moreover, it’s an excellent example of how liberals in this country have no consistent message.

If you look at the 2004 Presidential elections, you will see what I mean. Democrats, and specifically Senator Kerry, never were able to develop a strong message that voters could latch onto and know exactlt where he stood. Part of the reason for that is the Republicans did a good job of keeping him off balance, but this has been a problem in the Democratic party since President Bush won the election (well, kind of) in 2000.

Liberals sometimes do things that are not particularly politically savvy to do. Take the women’s group mentioned in the opening paragraph; even if you agree with their sentiment, you should be able to understand why what they are saying could potentially turn out negatively not just for them, but for every Democrat. If you’re going to chant something, at least chant something politically smart. Maybe something like “President Bush and Judge Alito will take away a woman’s right to choose.” If you change the language from the loaded “abortion” to being about freedom of choice and privacy rights, the Republicans would have a much more difficult time attacking the message.

While the conservatives do have their share of non-thinkers (ahem, Pat Robertson), the liberals have what I consider to be a non-thinker as their chairman. Howard Dean says the darndest things. He has given a list of quotes for conservatives to not only to bash him, but the Democratic party as a whole. Dean has said that he hates Republicans, that the United States cannot win in Iraq, that Republicans have never made an honest living, and he has implied that Republicans are evil. There are much more politically savvy ways to say these things. Maybe try, “I disagree with the ideas that many Republicans have, but feel that we could work together to making America even stronger than it already is,” instead of “I hate Republicans”. Maybe that “the Democratic party is tolerant, and is open to everyone,” as opposed to, “the Republican party is pretty much a white Christian party.” In any case, part of Dean’s job is to frame the message of the Democratic party, and I do not think the message he is putting out with these quotes will put the Democrats back in power.

This is why I am happy to report, for those of you who turned off your televisions after the President was finished delivering the State of the Union Address on January 31st, that the Democrats may have finally found a message. About ten minutes after the Address was over, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine gave the Democratic Response. His message was one that was not divisive or partisan in tone, but rather one that discussed working together to make America better. His response reminded me of President Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004: Republicans and Democrats are both working towards the same goal - a better country - but have different ways of accomplishing that goal, and the Democrats’ way is better.

The overall message of the response was that “there’s a better way.” Kaine discussed, first and foremost, the tax policy of this Administration and the massive defecit it has created. He used a good analogy here: no parent makes their child pay the mortgage bill, so why should our children pay off the defecit created by this President? There is a better way. Kaine also discussed the war on terrorism, not in terms of whether or not the war should be fought, but in terms of how it should be fought. He mentioned that this administration has not properly supplied the military with armor and other tools necessary to wage any war. There is a better way to fight this war, Kaine said. Governor Kaine also touched on health care, education, and the enviornment. Throughout every topic, his message was not one of harsh partisanship, but one of working together because there is a better way to run the country than the way the current administration does. Perhaps more importantly, he clearly and succinctly expressed the Democratic party’s position on every issue which he discussed.

If the Democrats can physically adopt this message over the next several months, while still being willing to play the dirty game that is politics in private - I believe there is hope that they can gain seats in the House and Senate, and perhaps even regain the majority position. Past years would lead me to believe that the Democrats will not be able to stay on message, and that some Democratic outliers will give the Republicans plenty of firepower against the Democratic party as a whole. but I will hold out hope that the Democrats can stick on this message: the administration is not evil, they are not dirty liars (whether you believe they actually are or not), and that they, like Democrats, are just trying to make America the best place it can be - but that there just happens to be a better, Democratic way of going about it. So, my fellow Democrats, next time you get into a debate with one of your Republican friends, think about the political consequences of your words. Just look at them and say, “there is a better way.”