The Grassroots Can Save Democrats

Howard Dean paved the way to future victories.

Here is an article from Joe Trippi in which he suggests ways to get the Democratic party out of its death spiral and back in the game. Unfortunately for him, he gets everything wrong in this essay. If the Democrats follow his lead they will continue to lose elections just as they have been. Personally, I would not mind the Dems being a minority party for the next fifty years or so, and I suspect that they will be regardless of Mr. Trippi's advice. But it is worth noting just how wrong Mr. Trippi is and that most of the hard left would probably agree with his views.

Democrats can't keep ignoring their base. Running to the middle and then asking our base to make sure to vote isn't a plan.

I see no evidence that the Democrats did this. On the contrary, they pulled so far to the left that we have never seen such a virulent and hate-filled campaign. When you have rock-star film propagandist Michael Moore sitting in the box next to Jimmy Peanut Carter, you are not playing to the middle of America. And we all know that the hard left is the base of the Democratic party.

Democrats must reconnect with the energy of our grass roots. One of the failures of the DLC was that its ideas never helped us build a grass-roots donor base. As a result, Democrats held a lead over Republicans in only one fundraising category before this election cycle: contributions over one million dollars. That shows how far the party had strayed from grassroots fundraising before the Dean campaign. We must build a base of at least seven million small donors by 2006.

I don't think money is really the issue here. The Democrats may not have as many small donors as the Republicans, but they have plenty of cash and this year they spent plenty. Democratic 527's alone outspent Republicans by a substantial amount. And big labor, big Hollywood and big media are all in the pocket of the Democrats, so they are certainly not starving. The problem for the Democrats is not how much money they have, but rather how they spend it and on what. In other words, you have to know why you want to spend money. Hating George Bush is not enough. We all know that the hard left hates George Bush. Spending more money on telling us about it does not get you more votes.

In a world in which companies like Wal-Mart pay substandard wages with no real benefits, our party has got to find innovative ways to support organized labor's growth.

The real problem for the Democrats is found here. They just don't get the concept of capitalism, which is America's economic system. Until they do, they will be out of touch with a majority of the country, including lots of middle American Democrats who work for a living and actually like places like Wal-Mart. We just don't think that businesses and corporations are our enemies. And some of us actually like them because they provide jobs and cool products that we want.

The Democratic Party has to be the vehicle that empowers the American people to change our failed political system. We all know the damn thing is broken. Democrats should lead the way by placing stricter money restrictions on candidates than the toothless Federal Election Commission does. A party funded by contributions from the people can do this.

Alert to Democrats. Didn't Mr. Trippi just complain about the lack of small donors? Yet here he seems oblivious to the fact that lots of millionaires are giving their cash to the Democrats. And let's get over the idea that "our political system is broken" can we? The Democrats only say this when they are losing. If they had won the election, do we really think that Mr. Trippi would say this? Of course he wouldn't. It is the Republicans who are the party of the small donor, because they connect with the regular folks; the ones in those red fly-over states that Democrats think are so stupid.

Finally, what is the purpose the party strives for today? What are our goals for the nation? You couldn't tell from the election. ... But the time has come to develop bold ideas and challenge people to sacrifice for the common good.

Well here we have the heart of the problem. We do know what the Democrats stand for and that is exactly why they are losing and will continue to lose and rightly so. The Democrats basic philosophy of government is the failed idea of big government socialism. No matter how they try to dress it up as something else, the tattered remnants of that old 19th century idea still show through. That is the meaning of Mr. Trippi's call for "sacrifice." What he means is that he and his party want even more of our money, time and energy to advance their goal of power and to provide free handouts to whoever they decide is most deserving of them. Note that those who actually do the producing are automatically not deserving in the world of Mr. Joe Trippi and his party. Those who do the producing are expected to produce almost automatically, as though they had no choice in the matter.

This is the heart of the Democrat's problem. They view us, the regular people, as cash cows whom they can milk whenever they please for whatever cause they deem noble whether we like it or not. And until they discover that we are not cows, but individual who have a right to life, liberty and our own property, and that money spent by us on government is a favor from us and not a right, they will remain a party lost in the wilderness. And they will deserve it.