[Mb-civic] What Democrats Should Be Saying - David Ignatius - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

What Democrats Should Be Saying

By David Ignatius
Friday, August 19, 2005; Page A21

This should be the Democrats' moment: The Bush administration is caught 
in an increasingly unpopular war; its plan to revamp Social Security is 
fading into oblivion; its deputy chief of staff is facing a grand jury 
probe. Though the Republicans control both houses of Congress as well as 
the White House, they seem to be suffering from political and 
intellectual exhaustion. They are better at slash-and-burn campaigning 
than governing.

So where are the Democrats amid this GOP disarray? Frankly, they are 
nowhere. They are failing utterly in the role of an opposition party, 
which is to provide a coherent alternative account of how the nation 
might solve its problems. Rather than lead a responsible examination of 
America's strategy for Iraq, they have handed off the debate to a 
distraught mother who is grieving for her lost son. Rather than address 
the nation's long-term fiscal problems, they have decided to play 
politics and let President Bush squirm on the hook of his unpopular plan 
to create private Social Security accounts.

Because they lack coherent plans for how to govern the country, the 
Democrats have become captive of the most shrill voices in the party, 
who seem motivated these days mainly by visceral dislike of George W. 
Bush. Sorry, folks, but loathing is not a strategy -- especially when 
much of the country finds the object of your loathing a likable guy.

The Democrats' problem is partly a lack of strong leadership. Its main 
spokesman on foreign policy has become Sen. Joseph Biden, a man who -- 
how to put this politely? -- seems more impressed with the force of his 
own intellect than an objective evaluation would warrant. Listening to 
Biden, you sense how hungry he is to be president, but you have little 
idea what he would do, other than talk . . . and talk.

The same failing is evident among Democratic spokesmen on economic 
issues. Name a tough problem -- such as energy independence or reform of 
Medicare and Social Security -- and the Democrats are ducking the hard 
choices. That may be understandable as a short-term political strategy: 
Why screw up your chances in the 2006 congressional elections by telling 
people they must make sacrifices? But this approach keeps the Democrats 
part of politics-as-usual, a game the GOP plays better.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801645.html?nav=hcmodule

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