The Feld-Blog

Democrats are the party of the American Dream. They stand for higher quality, better funded education – to help give citizens' upward mobility a kick-start. They believe in small-business-friendly policies – to foster economic growth. They believe in keeping government regulation out of your private life – to prevent undue restrictions on how you choose to live. And just in case, Democrats are there to catch you if you fall – with concrete programs like Social Security and long-term visions like universal healthcare. Democrats want to help the little guy become the big guy and they want to help the big guys keep America strong.

100 words. The entire above paragraph is just 100 words, and yet neither Howard Dean, nor Nancy Pelosi, nor Harry Reid, nor Russ Feingold, nor any Democrat seems to be able to rally his or her colleagues around a consistent vision. The Republicans have been sucessfully toting ‘tax relief’ and ‘family values’ for years. These four words have caused the Democrats world of trouble. The Republican vision is not really any simpler than the Democratic one, just better packaged. I think few Democrats would disagree with the above paragraph, yet getting them to articulate it succinctly has proven unreasonably difficult. But it’s very simple: Democrats are the party of the American Dream.

Democrats realize we are in the middle of a war in Iraq. In 2004, Kerry consented to allow the campaign to be about the war on terror. But while the war is important, it does not and cannot define the entirety of this country’s governance. By squandering money abroad and fumbling funding at home, the Republicans have set the ball, but the Democrats need to choose their swing carefully. Midterm elections should not be about the war on terror or even about tax cuts or raises. They probably shouldn’t even be about the pervasive Republican culture of corruption. Democrats cannot afford to fight another battle on Republican territory. They must bring the struggle back home to Democratic strongholds: healthcare, the environment, honest and open government, and providing the nation with the economic safety net they need to take the risks necessary to realize the American dream.

Since Bush’s election in 2000, the Republicans have suffocated the American Dream. Low-income families have only a 1% chance of reaching the top 5% of American income distribution compared to 22% for high-income families. 43 years after Dr. Martin Luther King told this nation of his dream, race still plays a dominant factor in whether or not a child will realize the American dream.

This is the fight the Democrats should be fighting. This is the fight they can win.