We Can Do Better

After following the Republican Convention this week in New York, a few things have become increasingly clear to me. One of the foremost of these is the great difficulty that the Democratic Leadership has in attempting to organize and focus its followers. Looking at the motley assortment of protesters that took to the streets this week, I was surprised to see the lack of cohesion among the various groups. Most of the protesters belong to single-issue groups, and none of them have much to agree on, except for one thing. They are united in their opposition, indeed their hatred of George W. Bush, his administration, and to a certain extent, the USA. Apparently, the only effective way for Democrats to organize their constituency is to fan the flames of this hatred. They console each other in their "victim" status, and want someone else to solve their problems and make things "right". The Democrats' message appears to focus simply on what they are not. There are no new ideas presented, no constructive solutions proposed. Indeed, this party's platform is to criticize the actions that have been taken, and pick apart those times when things have not gone according to plan. It's so easy to say that you would have done things differently, especially with the benefit of hindsight.

In doing so, Democrats have only defined themselves as the party of opposition and negativity. There is no guiding principle with which they can unite their followers, at least none that they dare mention. Because their base is so fragmented, the only platform that they can adopt is make concessions to all of the individual parties involved, which is expensive and often contradictory. What the Democrats do not want to say is that their party's ideals consist of growth in government bureaucracy, redistribution of income, and an anything-goes, lowest common denominator, relativist morality. Not exactly the stuff of true, daring leadership.