Operation Deep Blue
Start with the assumption that the Republican Party is dead. If yesterday’s results are not unique to Obama, if the demographics of the United States have permanently shifted to the left, no amount of tweaking, pandering, or “communicating” can save the GOP.
But if the Democratic Party can not be challenged from the right, it may just be vulnerable from the left.
Consider a party built around these key principles:
Anti-War: A clear majority of Americans are sick of these poorly-defined conflicts that treat our military like a police force to be dispatched randomly around the world. Bring the troops home, scale back our intervention around the world, and maintain free trade.
Gay Rights: Although most conservatives underestimate it, this is a key issue for young voters, and a key issue for single female voters. Gay marriage is regarded as the last great civil rights hurdle in America, and young voters will not vote for any party that opposes it. It really is a litmus test that defines the GOP as permanently “cruel” and out of touch.
Pro Choice: Another core issue for women. A Pro Life party cannot convince enough women voters to win an election in this climate. Another litmus test issue for younger generations.
Civil Rights: Reclaim the old-school high ground on civil liberties that has been discarded by the Democratic Party. Champion privacy, resurrect the Fourth Amendment, and dramatically scale back the TSA.
End the Drug War: Flat out legalize marijuana and dramatically reduce penalties for users and dealers of other drugs. The country isn’t ready for full-on legalization, but we can at least get these people out of prison.
Anti-Corporate: End all corporate welfare. Period. Including the hidden tax loopholes for protected groups like the film industry and union groups. Punish large firms and big banks for the obvious fraud they committed during the financial crisis. Stop treating corporations like people. Bring back Glass-Steagall or the equivalent. A real one, not this Dodd-Frank nonsense.
Pension Reform: Encourage cities, states, communities and corporations to declare bankruptcy and renegotiate their pension obligations.
Tort Reform: Punish “rich, Republican lawyers” who make their money off frivolous lawsuits. Help protect doctors, good Samaritans, crime victims, and first responders from liability.
Repudiate Student Loan Debt: Allow student loans to be dismissed in bankruptcy like any other loan. That, by itself, will fix most of the problem.
Debt Repudiation: Reframe the national debt and deficit issues in terms of class warfare. Convince voters that these trillions in debt are really just owed to “bankers” who don’t deserve to be paid. Retire a certain percentage of our national debt each year by simply wiping it off the books and refusing to pay. And if you think that’s a Trojan horse policy, you’re damn right it is.
Automatic Tax Increases: Eliminate deductions and loopholes, raise taxes on the “rich,” and require automatic tax rate increases each year based on the amount of federal spending in the previous year. Spread it out to make sure the increase in rates will “trickle down” to lower income groups once spending reaches a certain level.
I think the Democratic Party will end up implementing most of this anyway, as they’re forced to confront looming fiscal realities in the next 20 years, but an insurgent “Tea Party” movement within the Democratic Party could gain a lot of ground by adopting this strategy, and still end up doing a lot of good for the country.
These policies don’t necessarily represent what I want, personally, I’m just trying to figure out what might resonate with voters, as we try to reconcile political reality with economic reality.
P.S. This was originally written for a smaller audience that knew this stuff was kind of tongue in cheek. But for the record, the stuff in quotes is meant to be read sarcastically. The goal here is to sell a set of policies to Democratic voters that actually amount to a red horse covered in blue paint – to use the language of envy and class warfare to advocate a set of policies that will weaken left-wing power bases and force dramatic reductions in spending. I don’t actually have anything against Republican lawyers, for example, but we’d have a much better chance of selling tort reform if we framed it that way.
http://michaelduff.net/2012/11/07/operation-deep-blue/
