I’ve just been listening to NPR’s afternoon program Talk of the Nation, in which they are discussing the Democrat’s chances in this year’s mid-term elections. One thing I kept hearing over and over from the guest pundit, Ken Rudin, the political affairs editor at NPR, was that the Democrats have no “rallying cry.” Democrats are playing not to lose, hoping the electorate’s disgust with Republican corruption and incompetence will lift them to victory without having to do any heavy lifting on their own.

And it does appear that this is the plan. We’ve seen how the DCCC and Rahm Emanuel have handpicked “establishment” candidates to run for office, and tossed aside potentially great candidates, such as Paul Hackett, after knifing him in the back. Like the old four corners offense in basketball, they think they have the lead, so the object of the game becomes not to shoot, but just to keep the ball in your own hands rather than risk turning it over to your opponent so he can score.

In short, they are employing a classic risk averse strategy. By managing to tack just to the left of Republicans on most issues (or to take no definable position at all) they hope to pick up enough “moderates” and disgruntled libertarians to win back the House (and maybe the Senate) this Fall. They seem to be convinced that this “make no noise” approach is the right one. Well, maybe it seemed like a great idea to the consultants who’ve helped them lose every Congressional election since 1994 to the GOP, but I wonder how Francine Busby feels about it this morning. After all, she played it safe. Her positions on issues were straight down the middle of the road, but today all they look like is so much roadkill.

For that reason alone, I think Mr. Rudin is on to something. Dems can’t just get on the stump this year and bleat about how Bush and the Republican Congress are taking us down the wrong path, that the country is headed over a cliff, and blah, blah, blah. They actually need to to let people know the path they would steer the country upon if they get control of the Great American Government Bus back in their hands. And, yes, it helps to have a rallying cry, one issue that clearly distinguishes you from your adversary.

In my opinion, the Democrats are extremely fortunate this year, because they have TWO very powerful issues with which to distinguish themselves from Republicans, if they only have the guts and good sense to use them: Iraq and Global Warming.

(cont.)
Iraq is easy. A clear majority of Americans, in poll after poll, now say that the Iraq war was a mistake, that Bush’s handling of the war has been a disaster, and that it’s time to pull our forces out, or at the very least set a deadline by which our forces will be completely out. Jack Murtha understands this intuitively. And lately a few other brave souls have added their voices to his: John Kerry, Russ Feingold and Al Gore, to name but a few.

But intermittent shots to the Republican war regime by these worthies isn’t nearly enough, nor will any single statement by any one politician garner enough media attention for long enough to indelibly stamp this position upon the Democratic Party, as a whole. It’s got to be clearly shown to the Public that the Democratic Party stands for withdrawal from Iraq. That the longer we stay there, the worse things will get: for the troops, for the Iraqis and for our own national security.

What we need is a major announcement by as many of our Democratic leaders as we can round up, preferably at a press conference jointly called by Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, to make it clear that Democrats are the party that wants to stop exposing our troops to any further needless sacrifice in Iraq. That Democrats are the party which wants to end the slaughter. That Democrats are the party which opposes the Iraq war.

It should be an easy decision for Democratic leaders. The American people are already there, out in front of both Democrats and Republicans on this issue; all they are waiting for are candidates who will stand up and say what we all want to hear, that it’s time to leave Iraq, and bring our men and women in the military home.

We know that the Republicans are locked in to staying the course on Iraq. They risk losing even more of their base if they abandon Bush on the single most defining issue of his Presidency. They have to be hoping like hell that the Democrats continue their muddled approach to this issue because then there won’t be any clear, definitive difference between the two parties on the war in the mind of the American people.

Let’s hope that Dems get the courage of their convictions and do the right thing, both for our country and for their own political fortunes.

* * *

The second rallying point, global warming, around which all Democrats should swarm like bees to honey, is truly a gift. Democrats are already seen as the party that favors environmentalism, energy conservation and controls on greenhouse gas emissions. And once again, the polls show the public is already firmly in the “global warming is really happening” camp, especially after last year’s hurricane season.

Thanks to Al Gore’s movie coming out this summer, and all the buzz it has created, this is now the hottest topic on the media’s political radar. Proof of that can be seen by all the opposition that’s suddenly appeared, literally overnight, on our television screens, in astroturf funded advertisements and by “expert analysts” on Fox News, CNN and MsNBC who have railed against Gore and the global warming “controversy,” “myth” or “hoax” he is perpetrating on the public. The issue can only get more play if Democrats, as a party, announce they stand for taking immediate action to stop Global Warming. Today.

Again, this issue sets up perfectly for Democrats. They can piggyback on the publicity train that is “An Inconvenient Truth” and further magnify the effect that film is already having across America by frequent appearances touting the growing danger we all face from increased emissions of greenhouse gases, a danger the Republicans are willfully ignoring. But again, we need some specific and prominent public relations event staged on behalf of a sizable number of prominent Democratic politicians to get that train really rolling on behalf of all Democrats, in general, as opposed to just Al Gore, in particular.

There are so many angles Democrats can talk about this issue, and so many contexts in which it can be raised: from the increase in deadly hurricanes like Katrina, to Bush’s suppression government scientists and their research; from public health angles (the threat of more diseases like malaria, asthma, etc.) to our national security needs (i.e., we can save both the planet and become energy independent from all the “crazies” in the Persian Gulf who have us, literally, over a barrel). And of course, it fits right in with the Republicans are the party of corruption meme: all you need to do as a Dem candidate at any campaign stop is point to all the political contributions your opponent has received from the oil companies, while pledging not to accept such tainted money yourself.

Like the Iraq war, global warming already has the Republicans boxed in. They can’t abandon their big money donors in the oil, automobile and utility industries. Further, any candidate who tries to claim he or she is “environmentally friendly” can likely be portrayed as a “flip flopper” who say one thing on the campaign trail while voting another way once his or her seat in Congress is secured.

So those are my two rallying cries for Democrats. One can make an argument for Medicare D and health care in general as an issue that is also worthy of such a prominent position, and certainly the continuing overreach by the Bush administration in the area of privacy rights is important to the core of the party’s faithful. But right now, Anerica’s attention is primarily focused on Iraq, and, to a slightly lesser, but steadily growing extent, on the issue of global warming. So those are the issues Democrats, as a party, should lead with this Fall, in my opinion. Those are my two rallying cries for the coming campaign.

Is anyone in the Democratic leadership listening? I sure as hell hope so. Opportunities like this November don’t come along very often in our political cycles. It would be more than a shame if the Democrats botched this one thanks to their own timidity.