| Sure, there were and are people who were never going to agree with President Obama and Congressional Democrats. But the refusal to conduct widespread and concerted outreach led to a hardening of that attitude. And, since the other side has a ready-made noise machine, their ability to shout their message while we didn't even whisper ours contributed to an electorally-deadly environment. As President Obama said recently, we didn't conduct adequate PR.
But the reason we didn't conduct adequate PR - the reason our whisper failed to resound - is that we never tried to understand our opponents. Those people out in Jesusland are just a bunch of superstitious fools who can't understand science and refuse to believe the facts when they are plainly presented. Why even bother?
We'll, as Upton Sinclair said, "It's difficult to get someone to believe something when their livelihood depends on not believing it." It's hard to convince someone that universal healthcare is not socialism and isn't going to destroy our country when their entire sense of reality depends on it being true - when their whole reason for getting up and going to a job they hate everyday and working until their bones ache depends on believing that those things are not rights, but have to be won through the blood, sweat, and tears that a man and woman sheds in willing sacrifice to their families - and as an unwilling sacrifice to a corporate machine that has always placed profits over people and privilege over humanity.
The people who have opposed Democrats this election, by and large, are not evil people. Nor are they stupid. Nor are they even misled. They are working for what they see as their self-interest. That our policies do not align with that view is our failure, not theirs. As Don Shula taught, a superior view accepts blame while an inferior view gives it. It's time Democrats learned to be a superior political party.
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote nearly a hundred years ago, "America is great because America is good." He commented on the number of churches and benevolent associations that promoted civic life and involvement. He also predicted, "America will cease to be great when it ceases to be good." Again, this is informative of a political party.
New Jersey has mid-terms next year, and despite rumors to the contrary, the election does not start tomorrow. It starts today. It starts with us realizing that the Democratic Party works best when it is truly a "big tent" party and when it doesn't deride its Blue Dogs for knowing their districts and voting appropriately. And it works best when it doesn't emulate the worst aspects of the Republican Party apparatus.
We don't need to spread lies and falsehoods. We have truth on our side. But the truth has no voice but our own. And if we give truth the voice of derision and condescension, then we will surely reap what we sow. To be trusted with governing, we must do more than show that the other side is less trustworthy. We have to show that we are, ourselves, as trustworthy is disagreement as we are in accord.
I don't mean to say that mistakes weren't made or that obstructionists weren't active. They were. But there is no problem faced in the past two years that would not have been lessened with greater understanding and engagement. There is no success that would have have been greater with more understanding and engagement.
Anyone who knows my writing knows that I'm not afraid to throw a well-aimed punch (and sometimes, less-than-well-aimed). But what if what we need to win isn't a generation of Progressive warriors, but a generation of Progressive diplomats? We can't bring America together by driving its people apart. There are enough people trying to do that.
Election '11 starts today. It starts by looking past the victory dance of Tea Partiers and the bragging of Republicans. It starts by looking for the reason they are happy to see people dedicated to removing their ability to seek medical care when they choose to do so. It starts by looking for common ground on the values that have always been at the core of the American identity - and understanding that those values sometimes directly conflict.
We have to be the change we wish to see in our country, our state, and our communities. Because if we cannot do that, then our ideals are not realistic anyway. I believe they are realistic - and that they are worth fighting and even dying for. But they are also worth living for. And they are worth the hard work of educating and convincing the American public.
The King is dead. Long live the King.
Let's get to work.
Update: Thanks to Micah Sifry - a retiring Democrat's view. |
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