Democrats need to stand for something
If you hold high public office or if you’re running for one, it’s good to stand for something. It’s equally good to be known to stand for something, especially if that something commands majority support, whether broadly or narrowly.
What do the Democrats in Washington stand for? Whatever it is, it is not enough.
House Democrats have a fundraising effort underway targeting their core supporters using the tagline “Resist.” As in, resist Donald Trump.
Whenever Democratic congressional leaders appear on television the talk is all about standing up to Donald Trump, and possible Trump collusion with the Russians during the 2016 presidential election.
Otherwise, voters are treated to a discussion about how Democrats are working to protect vulnerable minorities, including “Dreamers” raised in this country by parents who crossed the border illegally.
All of this is fine. Russia certainly interfered in the election. President Putin saw his worst nightmare on the verge of coming true: Hillary Clinton in the White House. The Russian war on American democracy requires the sharpest rebuke on our part.
And God forbid that anyone in charge of the Trump campaign, let alone the president himself, gave even a wink and nod to the Russians.
For their part, Dreamers and others need friends in high places. My daughter is a member of the LGBTQ community. I’m proud of her and proud of the progress we’ve made in this country in safeguarding and advancing the rights of all.
But sorry, Democrats, resisting Donald Trump and standing at the floodgates against those who wish to roll back minority protections is not going to get you back where you want to be — in control of Congress and the White House.
Instead of “Resist,” the party’s should “Purpose.”
What issues should Democrats strive to be identified with? What should they purpose to do if placed in charge in Washington? And when their leaders speak in public, what should they be hammering home?
I think there are four, possible five, items. Democrats should be able to say, with straight faces and from the gut: “I favor good jobs, high incomes, low-cost, quality health care, and matchless schools for our children.”
For good measure, there is the matter of peace in the world bolstered by smart U.S. diplomacy and a powerful military.
The first of these is jobs. The old Bill Clinton campaign reminder is still relevant, “It’s jobs, stupid.”
An old politico by the name of Bob McDonough of Parkersburg, W.Va., who helped Jack Kennedy win the Mountain State in 1960, once told an interviewer that when push comes to shove, voters side with the party and the politician who puts bread on the table.
Standing for and talking about good jobs is a political no-brainer.
Equally unassailable is the matter of high wages. Donald Trump owes his election, in part, to the fact that he identified himself with narrowing the gap in wages that has been growing for decades between middle Americans and wealthy Americans.
At least he did a better job at this than Hillary Clinton did.
Democrats should own this issue. Their having lost blue collar voters to fat cats like Donald Trump and to Republicans in general is an original sin.
What can be said about the matter of broad, generous health insurance coverage that hasn’t been said before? In the short term, the Affordable Care Act needs to be shored up. Maybe the new, improved bipartisan Donald Trump is just what the Democrats need to fix Obamacare to make it workable in all 50 states.
Certainly, the Republican debacle on this issue was historic, and telling. The fact that the GOP, after railing against Obamacare for seven years, was unable to come up with a viable replacement was telling: the ACA sprang from the deep thinkers at the Heritage Foundation and at other conservative think tanks; it was adopted, partially, by President Obama with the hope that some Republicans would come on board to makes its passage bipartisan.
In the longer term, it doesn’t hurt Democrats to be talking about universal coverage, either by means of single-payer or the addition of “Medicare for all” to the existing ACA structure.
Last but by no means least, there is education. The Republican war on the nation’s public schools is a political dead end, but only if Democrats fail to come up with solutions that address the problems of worsening schools and lagging education outcomes.
We are practically to the point of having two separate and inherently unequal educational systems in this country: an excellent system for the wealthy and a failing system for all the rest. Our public schools should be knocking down barriers, economic and otherwise, not reinforcing or reflecting them.
In short, Democrats, marching against and resisting are not enough. It’s time to stand and propose.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown and is the author of two books — Grand Salute: Stories of the World War II Generation and Our People. He can be reached at dick.l.robbins@gmail.com.