Democrats: Get a Platform (save time, I made one for you)

1. Real Results, now, no spin required

Politics under the Republican machine have become entirely, 100%, about spin. The Administration has either been totally incompetent (Katrina), or unabashedly handing out no-bid contracts to their friends (Haliburton). Either way, they screwed up a natural disaster, highlighting how unprepared we are to handle another terrorist attack, and there's no oil flowing in Iraq, even though we've given Haliburton billions of dollars to make it happen. Yet somehow everytime the White House says "black is white", some people still believe them. Give us leadership with real integrity that can point to real, measurable, documented, uncontested results. Like number of barrels of oil pumped in Iraq, response time in minutes to disaster, number of containers inspected in ports.

Democracts seem to think that the only way to beat the Republicans is to engage in their own game. That's like saying to beat the Mafia, we'll be a bigger, badder gangster than they are. Because the Republican leadership, at the end of the day, is a mix of fundamentalist preachers and morally derelict crooks, you will never, ever beat them at their own game. So don't bother playing it. Play a real game, called delivering real results to tax payers, now. The economy is surging and our paychecks aren't keeping pace with inflation. Bush can say whatever he wants about tax cuts for the rich, we all know his policy is bullshit and we're all getting screwed. It should not be hard to leverage that in an easy to understand message. Try this: "Under Bush, big corporations and CEOs made more money, while you made less. That's because Republican polices keep the rich richer and you poorer. Vote him out and get your fair share."

Call a spade a spade: Saudi Arabia is not our friend; Uzbekistan is not our friend, etc. We've poured billions of dollars into regimes that torture their citizens and support terrorism against the US. It's time for that to end. The Taliban learned their trade from CIA handlers who thought they were doing a good, fighting the Soviet Union.


2. International Leadership

Bush has squandered our international leadership position when it comes to issues like human rights and civil liberties. We all know the story of the prime minister of Egypt, when asked why he tortured prisoners, said "Hey, what do you want, America does it!" We must lead by example. We must hold ourselves and our country to a higher standard than anyone else.

3. Sensible Economic Policy

Deficit spending, pork barrel spending, incredible defense spending, an overstretched military, "farm" subsidies, tax the poor to feed the rich... the unbelievably retro economic policy of this Administration is unbelievable. Like I said, the economy is surging and our paychecks are shrinking.

Labor unions, manufacturing, and the politics of the 60's are over. The Democratic party must grow into the new marketplace, where we are competing with India and China to keep our economy vital. We need to invest in research and development, not future combat systems. The Internet exists because of basic R&D. Yes, it was a DARPA project, but it was not a combat system. It was an IT system designed to survive a nuclear war.

We have to use free market policies -- yes, Democracts, own it: the Republicans have totally abandoned the idea of free market economics, with no-compete bids, farming out the Medicare drug benefit with the hamstrings cut so that we can't use mass negotiation to get cheaper drugs, etc -- to let farms compete to survive. Our current policy is bad for the earth and squeezes out family farms. We need to encourage the creation of markets for family farms. Today's consumers want heritage meats and organic fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, we're dumping cotton at below wholesale costs, making it impossible for third world countries to compete.

The message: "Balance the budget, stop subsidizing bad business, make government programs work for you to reign in costs. If government is spending money, demand accountability. Dump defense projects that don't create results. Invest in the future with R&D."


4. Raise the bar in education, and not with tests

Picking up on the last point: Our high school graduates have no useful skills. It's because we expect so little of them. It's possible that local school districts should be able to do whatever they want, and compete for customers. People who want their children to learn the bible and creationism in school can live in school districts where such things are taught -- after all, it's a free country, that's their purgative. And parents who want their children to know calculus by the time they finish 10th grade can live in school districts that offer such programs. States should decide what the requirements are, not the federal government. States ought to be able to establish what they consider failing school zones.

The teacher's union has to go. It is a disaster for our children. No one is thinking outside the box on education. The racist exurb residents and the bible thumpers don't value education, and inner city and rural students pay the price. The Volvo driving elites like to echo tired platitudes, but they all know that education begins at home. At the end of the day, Americans don't value education, and the teacher's union makes sure that no radical changes take place. We all know that the earth is flattening and our work face will be competing worldwide, and we aren't doing anything nearly radical enough to be prepared for this future. The old, "liberal" policies of the 60's must go. Screw the teacher's union.


5. Let the States decide on divisive social issues

Ironically, the Republicans and the right wingers have become the proponents of an intrusive Federal Government, deciding what we can and can't do, based on their beliefs and values. Whatever happened to conservatives who support states rights?

Issues like gay marriage, abortion, and so on, should be local issues. America is about to reach a population of 300 million. We don't all agree on some basic issues, such as: how much the Christian bible is a part of our lives; abortion; gay marriage; etc. There are practical problems when neighboring states have different abortion laws, but the fact is that this issue needs to be settled by legislation. There should be a clear law about abortion, not a Supreme Court decision about privacy, protecting a woman's right to choose. Backwater states with backwater laws can watch their populations shrink as people move to states with laws that reflect their needs, values, and beliefs.

This same concept applies to gay marriage. Some people really care, and some people really don't. States should decide. There's no reason for their to be a federal law or a Constitutional amendment around an issue that has always been handled locally.

6. Real Energy Policy

Buying oil from unstable states like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria props up those unstable regimes, while the citizens of those countries get the shaft. In addition, living in a country where anywhere outside of the D.C. - Boston corridor means owning a car, we must invest in real public transit. Let the highways rot. Cars pollute. If people want to live in a 3 BR 2 bath house, make them pay. Houses should have a highway and energy consumption tax so middle class families that insist on living this way pay their fair share for the impact it has on society. You want to avoid the reactionary charge that "we know what's best for you" and the urban fascism argument. The idea is that you can do whatever you want, as long as you pay your fair share.


7. Healthcare


Give us a single payer system, for God's sake. It's destorying our economy and ruining our ability to compete. GM is going down b/c they can't afford to pay the health care benefits of their retirees. Pension plans (like IBM's) are following suits. Employer-offered insurance means that a small, elite group gets coverage that costs an incredible amount, since everyone else has to go to the emergency room to get treatment. Americans need to realize that their demand for drugs and care is ruining our economy. OK, they won't want to hear that, but I think you can say "GM's debt is junk status because they can't afford health care. It's time for a change." That's a nice sound bite for you.


8. Protect the Environment

This is important, but it's much more important to talk about it from a national security point of view. Protect the environment by continuing to protect our parks and wildlife -- it's what makes this country worth dying for. And reducing energy consumption means reducing our dependence on the country's that seek to destroy us.


9. National Security

This is at the bottom b/c that's where it belongs. Stop letting fear and jingoism rule the day. Have the courage to call this what it is: a scare tactic, fear mongering, implicit racism, imperial war mongering, etc. Go big or go home. In the meantime, take the steps outlined above and you'll have improved our security 1000%. We'll be a respected world leader.

But, we should be taking threats seriously. Instead of launching pet project wars, focus on the real issues: Iran, North Korea, port security, nuclear power plant protection (hello, Indian Point is 25 miles from NYC), chemical and industrial plant protection, mass transit (Amtrak, NYC MTA, etc). Focus on real, measurable results, and the effective use of homeland security money. Businesses use metrics to measure results, this is an area where it's so easy to show how useless Bush has been at protecting us, making the world more dangerous for America. Show us how you'll protect us with real numbers. Inspect 50% of all containers entering ports in by the first 100 days, etc.

Make big commitments and deliver. Make people expect more, not less.