The Road Map

Interesting junk mail today…a thank you from DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe. And he also wanted feedback to where I think the Democrat should head.

Our party clearly needs a road map, and one that includes more than just large metropolitan areas in it. Growing up in the heartland I’ve always had a little chip on my shoulder about how we (Midwesterns) were viewed by those on the coasts. Derision seemed to be most of it. This was something I noticed even more pronounced during my days as a lobbyist. Those inside the beltway, especially Democrats, were obsessed with “costal” thinking. I would always call my family and friends in the Midwest to get a true feeling of what average Americans were thinking. Except for my youngest siblings, most of my family has little time and less understanding of politics and its potential effect on their lives. And though many here in Washington may believe that they are unique, unfortunately they are not. Most American have little direct experience with the federal government, and the contact that they do have is generally in the form of their annual tax filing. So, there is no surprise why most Americans do not look kindly upon the federal government and those of us in Washington.

The party needs direction, but it first has to understand were they want to go. If they want a map back to the White House then there must be an understanding by the hardline, old school members of the party that the traditional northeastern liberal (personified brilliantly by Sen. Kerry) will not take us there. Instead, we are derailed not too far out of the station and never even make it across the Mississippi. Not only do we need a new map, but also we need to ensure we no longer take direction from either extreme. The Republican Party did a wonderful job of defining the Democrats in the election. And, unfortunately the left wing of the party saw no problem with the directions the Republicans gave us. They happily took the map and drove us off the cliff.

The party’s support for gay marriage and the fight with the Christian conservatives was certainly one of the obvious flash-point issues of the campaign. There was nothing wrong in the support of the issue. However, being defined by that and other issues hurt the party away from the coastline. We need to be the party of personal freedoms, regardless of what those freedoms are. Instead of defending ourselves on the issue of gay marriage we should have spent our efforts on how the Republicans want to have complete control over your bedroom, your sex life, what you read, what you watch. They want to curtail your personal freedoms. The best defense is no a witty response, it is to be on the attack. Stay on the attack. If they want to criticize our positions that is fine, but we must define ourselves first.

The direction of the party should be towards the center in the primary so we are best suited to run in the general election. But, we must also ensure that the candidate stands for something, isn’t vague on his or her stands on issues, and doesn’t try to pander to the voters and change their positions in a vain hope to court votes. Our next candidate and campaign must be about ideals, ideas and most importantly leadership. We want to follow people, but to have follower you must know where you are going and how you are going to get there. If we can only just find the map.