Synthesizing the Advice

Don't talk to me about the inauguration today. I'm trying not to think about it.

Today I'm going to try to synthesize the three articles in the Prospect by Lind, Judis & Teixeira, and Sirota. To summarize, Lind thinks that the Democrats are in trouble as the party of Greater New England and need to nominate someone from the midwest. Judis & Teixeria believe that Democrats are still in fairly good shape for the long term, and that this election was really just a blip. Sirota argues that a new Populism is being created in red states. Its sweeping anti-corporate message might enable Democrats to win previously Republican voters and restore Democratic prospects.

I've already commented on what I like and question about each article in previous posts, so let's move to the conclusion.

The underlying strategic imperative generated by each piece is clear: Democrats must improve their performance among the white working class. To do so we need to find a way to mute the culture wars and shift the emphasis to economic issues. The middle and working classes are being severely pressed by corporate behavior and the international economy, and many families are up to their necks in debt. The Republican "ownership society" is only going to worsen their situation. When you combine the old white working class base of the party with its growing strength among urban professionals and its backing among minorities, the Democrats would be in a dominating political position.

But how is this going to be done? Well, what we need is an overarching critique of conservative economics, distilled into a clear message that is comprehensible to people. The basic narrative needs to speak to core American values (like fair play) while being linked to specific policy issues. Sirota's New Populism is at least a good first stab on how to do this.

The weakness shared by each is their exclusive focus on domestic economic issues. All think that the "values" debate needs to be marginalized. But none has a very clear idea on how to cope with the displacement of economic with cultural issues, which is what is driving the working class movement to the right. I asked a while ago if anyone had a specific idea on how to neutralize cultural issues without making us look weak. I have yet to hear an answer.

The second problem is that none of the three writers has taken up the serious challenge of foreign policy. We are no longer in the 1990's - we need to develop a serious response to heightened sense of international insecurity. Unless we do so, we are never going to have enough credibility to win back the Presidency. This is not to say that there is not already an implicit Democratic agenda, it is only to point out that we have not integrated this agenda with out domestic policy narrative.

What we have is a pile of bricks and some steel girders. What we are missing is an architectural plan.