For Us and Against Them

I listen to a lot , my wife says too much, of political gab on cable TV. Frequently what happens is the pundit d'jour will end up conceding the Republicans have made a terrible mess of things; then, immediately proceed to a variation of "but the Democrats don't offer any alternative".

That's pure, unadulterated manure from your least favorite barnyard animal! Here's an example of how to stand up for us.

Rather than argue the media's deafness, or the natural pulpit the Repubs get from the White House and both houses of Congress, I'll point to Rahm Emanual on HardBall the other night.

Seemingly to Chris Matthew's chagrin, when asked for alternatives to current Republican policy Rahm instantly reeled off the following:

Change to priorities that put our fiscal house in order, and reinvest in America‘s future. That is by making sure that if you work, you have health care. In the 21st century, college education is universal, as high school was in the 20th century. That—ensure that we create an institute for science and engineering to marvel the NIH for health care. To make sure we create a hybrid economy for our energy and cut our dependency on foreign oil in half. And to make sure that the next Congress, when the 9/11 Commission comes back, you don‘t get an F, the president of the United States and the Congress, for not implementing what should be done to protect Americans.

I say that's not bad straight off the cuff, and it's only one example of Democrats saying what we stand for and presenting an alternative. We just have to keep saying it over, and over, and over again.

But I'm not saying we should not preach against them as well. Again, the cable guys hand out some good advice every now and then. This from the conservative talker, Joe Scarborough:

Hammer home these three themes over the next ten months.

1. There is a culture of corruption in Republican-run washington.
2. There are record deficits, record debts and record government waste in Republican-run Washington.
3. Soldiers are dying across the world for reasons that are still not clear three years later.

These are examples of the bipolar way I want to proceed this year.

Positive and straightforward in putting forward Democratic values and policy proposals.

Negative and blunt in describing the disaster the Republicans have created at home and abroad.