============================================= THE NEW DEM DAILY, 08-Dec-03 Political commentary & analysis from the DLC ============================================= [ New Democrats Online: http://www.ndol.org ]
Changing the Subject on Cultural Issues
Next year, the Democratic presidential nominee will face no greater challenge than bridging the cultural divide. Bill Clinton was the most successful Democratic leader of our time because he was able to blunt the wedge issues -- crime, welfare, taxes -- that Republicans had used to beat Democrats for a generation. Since every move the Bush White House makes -- on the war, late-term abortion, taxes -- is designed to drive new wedges into the electorate, every Democrat had better have a survival plan for Wedgie World.
Yesterday, Gov. Howard Dean went to South Carolina to explain his plan for dealing with divisive cultural issues: change the subject. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Dean was asked by Chris Wallace about the meaning of his stock-speech line: "I am tired of coming to the South and fighting elections on guns, God and gays. We're going to fight this election on our turf, which is going to be jobs, education and health care."
The heart of Dean's reply was: "[W]hy can't we talk about jobs, health care and education, which is what we all have in common, instead of allowing the Republicans to consistently divide us by talking about guns, God, gays, abortion and all this controversial social stuff that we're not going to come to an agreement on?"
We're not sure which is more doomed to fail -- the naive hope that if we just change the subject, divisive issues will go away, or the condescending idea that Americans who care passionately about "all this controversial social stuff" should move on and care about something else.
As Clinton showed time and again, the way to deal with divisive issues is to actually deal with them.
Gov. Dean is embracing one of the historic fallacies of pre-Clinton Democratic politics, in dividing issues into "our turf" and "their turf." Throughout the 1980s, polls showed Democrats holding a consistent advantage over the GOP on issues like education, health care, and the environment -- "our turf." But Republicans held even bigger advantages on national security, managing the economy, and "values" issues -- "their turf." The Democratic political consultants of that era sold presidential candidates on the idea that refusing to discuss "Republican issues" was the essence of staying "on message" and the key to victory. The Dukakis campaign, which blew a big post-Convention lead over George H.W. Bush because the candidate refused to respond to Republican attacks on his national security and "values" credentials, was a definitive field test of that strategy.
In 1992 and 1996, Bill Clinton refused to cede any issue to anybody, and insisted on carving out progressive policy positions on "their turf" of national security, fiscal discipline, crime, welfare reform, and other "values" issues. Because he went out of his way to reassure voters of their concerns about Democrats on such issues, these elections wound up turning on "our turf" of jobs, health care, and education.
That's still the right approach, especially at a time when cultural concerns about Democrats have re-emerged. Voters can smell fear, and they don't trust politicians who can't wait to change the subject. When they have a question, they want us to give an answer -- and we'll only confirm their first fears if we don't. Changing the subject says to the middle class: "Check your values at the door, and vote your self-interest like everyone else."
It's not too late for Gov. Dean and other Democratic candidates to rethink their approach to cultural issues. But time's running out. We urge them to take a long look at the Atlanta event the DLC cosponsored with Americans for Gun Safety in October -- a discussion with state and local elected officials from around the country on the policy and politics of connecting with gun owners, people of faith, families with kids, and voters concerned about national strength and the moral condition of the country.
The lesson is clear: on cultural issues, silence is not golden, dismissiveness is a disaster, and trying to change the subject simply reinforces the false, negative stereotypes about Democrats that conservatives have spent enormous time and money building and exploiting.
Bill Clinton proved that Democrats win by respecting the views of all Americans, and explaining the values and principles we hold dear. The way to survive Wedgie World isn't to run away from tough cultural questions. It's to care enough about them to have a good answer.
Related Material:
"God, Guns, Guts... Seizing the Cultural Center," DLC and Americans for Gun Safety, Event, October 18, 2003: <http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=126&subid=189&contentid=252165>
Transcript: Howard Dean on 'FOX News Sunday': <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105081,00.html>
"The Right Way to Go South," New Dem Daily, November 6, 2003: <http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=192&contentid=252174>
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