So now we know the outcome of the midterm elections. Well, at least we know the outcome of many of those elections. There are a couple of Senate seats still too close to call (although that may have changed before this gets posted), which could swing control of the Senate to the Democrats or keep it just barely in the hands of the Republicans.
Now, the real fun begins. As someone recently said (I think it was Andrew Sullivan or Bill Maher), the choice this fall was between the party of no ideas (the Democrats) and the party of bad ideas (the Republicans). If that’s true, it’s time for the Democratic Party to come up with some clear, easy to communicate ideas, along with a vision for the future. Being the party of “don’t blame us, we didn’t create this mess” won’t cut it with the voters and will almost certainly guarantee a Republican resurgence in a couple of years time.
Even if the Democrats only control the House of Representatives, to be a truly national party they need to have a vision. Say what you want about the Republicans over the last 30+ years, but you can’t deny that their party has enunciated a vision and direction for the country. The vision may have been myopic and the direction wrong, but they had vision and direction. And over the years they’ve done a heck of a job backing the Democrats into a corner and forcing them to constantly respond to attacks, rather than allowing them to get out in front of an issue.
Republicans have managed to sling all sorts of epithets at the Democrats since the era of Atwater. “Obstructionist” has been a popular term lately. But perhaps there’s nothing wrong with obstructing bad, ill-advised policy. Another point of view would be that the Democrats have tried to act as checks and balances on the ruling party’s power. Unfortunately many times they were neither able to check nor balance the heavy-handed tactics employed by the Republican leadership in the last 6 years.
Republicans have also liked to sling about the phrase “activist judges” on occasion. But here’s the thing, all judges are “activist judges” whenever they set about to interpret the law. Doesn’t matter if their interpretation is a conservative one or a liberal one, it’s still an interpretation. But that is one of the beauties of our system: Recognizing that there needs to be flexibility in the law and how it’s interpreted, our system allows for just that. That’s what the founders of this country intended. Well, at least, that’s my interpretation.
Certain commentators (like Ann Coulter) have likened people who oppose their point of view to traitors. To say such comments are vile would be an understatement. But that’s been the nature of the extremes — the attitude that “I’m right and if you don’t agree with me not only are you wrong, but you’re un-American, too.” No, not true. Free speech ensures that people are able to speak freely on whatever topics they please. I may not agree with what you say, but you certainly have the right to say it.
Perhaps this is a turning point in American politics. One thing the Democratic Party has not done well is to define the terms of our national political conversation and debate. They’ve been too reactive and not active enough in getting their own ideas in front of the people.
Many pundits are suggesting that this vote was not so much a vote for the Democrats as a vote against the Republicans. Even if that’s true, it gives the Democrats an opportunity to show the electorate (or at least the ones who bother to vote) that they actually can govern and govern well, without resorting to the divisive policies and politics of the recent past. Maybe now the moderate mainstream is reasserting itself and letting those politicians and opinion-makers on the fringes know that they aren’t going to be cowed by their bluster and tactics. One can hope, anyway.
For the Democrats, now is not the time to figure payback for what’s happened in the recent past. It’s time to chart a new course and set a vision and direction for American politics and policy-making that the moderate mainstream can support, rather than appealing to the “base” voters who are on the party’s fringes. Because in two years, the cycle comes round again, and if they haven’t managed to do anything other than block bad policy, the Democrats aren’t going to have a rock-solid case for why they should be allowed to continue on in power.
