12-Step Program for Recovering Democrats

The first step on the road to recovery is to: 1) admit you have a problem. Denial is a sweet temptation for Democrats in the face of last month’s devastating defeat, but they should not indulge. The party has been given another wake-up call, and it is time to stop hitting the snooze alarm.

Democrats need to make a simple but profound admission: They are not the nation’s natural majority party. What’s more, they have not been for 25 years.

Yes, Democrats have long held a majority in the House and often in the Senate--but often in name only. The last major wave of social-reform legislation ended with the elections of 1966; since then, a moderate-conservative coalition has ruled more often than not--and, of course, Democrats have won the White House only twice, once with 51% of the vote, the other with 43%.

Democratic weakness was disguised because many white voters, especially in the South, voted Democratic for historical reasons while being philosophically much closer to the GOP. If the “emerging Republican majority” predicted by Kevin Phillips never quite emerged in partisan terms, it did ideologically.

The 1992 election represented a fragmenting of that majority under the pressures of deep economic change. Some Democrats thought a new majority had arrived, when, in fact, the party had only been given a window of opportunity to construct one. The electorate has now shut that window--on Bill Clinton’s and the Democrats’ heads--and the Republicans have their chance to try.

Stopping the consolidation of a renewed Republican majority will be hard work. Actually constructing a governing Democratic majority will prove harder still. But Democrats can get there, if--and only if--they acknowledge where they start from. Then they can move on to the other steps of this 12-step program toward a healthy Democratic body politic

2) Stop defending the past. One benefit of retroactively surrendering power is that Democrats need not defend the past 30 years. Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) says the country has been in trouble since 1967--who are Democrats to disagree? Force Republicans and conservatives to defend the bad old days, which they presided over. And when Republicans blame government for every social problem, remind people that we live in an era of government retrenchment and unfettered free enterprise.

Just as important is staying focused on the future rather than refighting the old wars. Let Gingrich date himself with talk about the “counterculture” and “McGovernicks,” but don’t take the bait. The elites of both political parties love to fight about the 1960s--but voters care about the 1990s and beyond.

3) Act like outsiders--after all, you are. Even when they have political control, Republicans are smart enough to sound as though they do not. Political outsiders are always rewarded in America’s populist culture, especially in times of general dissatisfaction. Democrats reverse the formula--acting like they are in charge even when they are not--and get the worst of both worlds.

There is much for reasonable people to be angry about in 1994 America--social breakdown, economic insecurity and a seemingly detached and ineffective politics. Democrats must recognize and validate that anger, then give it political direction, just as Republicans have. Clinton, in particular, must regain his voice as a social critic.

4) Let the Republicans lead. Clinton has given some signs that he feels he must compete with the Republicans for attention, perhaps by giving a major December speech. But Democrats should welcome the move of the spotlight to GOP leaders, and give them all the rope they need.

We have already learned of Gingrich’s family-values plan to take poor children from their mothers and place them in orphanages, and watched the spectacle of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), prospective chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, promoting national security through threats on the life of the commander in chief. The Republican presidential contest is especially promising--with Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas and Bob Dole of Kansas in the field, networks will have to schedule debates after 9:00 p.m. to avoid scaring young children.

5) Fight for the center, but also fight to redefine it. The party’s “New Democrats” are right when they say Democrats must win the political center--that is what political struggle is always about. Democrats must communicate that they got the message and are committed to a more modest, pragmatic and non-bureaucratic approach to solving problems. But the party’s liberals are also correct in saying that Democrats must frame a clear choice between the parties, and give people positive reasons to vote Democratic. Democrats must give middle-class voters a reason to believe government still matters to them.

Building a political majority depends not on an opportunistic shift to some pre-existing center, but in successfully redefining where the center is. Fortunately, Republicans seem ready to help by radically overreaching--confusing a call for more efficient government (and no new taxes) with a “mandate” for dismantling the welfare state. This allows Democrats to stake a claim to the mainstream, in opposition to GOP extremism.

6) Observe the “Lestat rule. “ The extent of this defeat has only intensified the debilitating blame game between the “New Democrats” of the Democratic Leadership Council and the party’s liberal wing. But the factions should stop scapegoating: The party lost power because of major cultural and economic changes--not because of mistakes by either liberals or New Democrats.

Democrats should emulate the vampires of Anne Rice’s novels, who occupy a hostile world, loathed and hunted by the larger society. They have only one ethical law: Never destroy your own kind. If Gramm, Gingrich and the threat of GOP control of both houses of Congress and the White House cannot bring the Democrats together, nothing can.

7) Don’t wait for social issues to save you. Some Democrats look to the “Pat” solution--meaning Robertson and Buchanan. They expect the Republicans to embrace a radical right-wing social agenda that turns off moderate voters. Forget it. It’s not gonna happen.

Republicans have already made clear they will not restrict access to abortion; Dole has even slowed down momentum for school prayer--which is more popular. Republicans will sell out the religious right--as they always do--because they know while its language of traditional values is popular, its agenda goes too far. This can be a plus for Democrats, who cannot win over this constituency but want to see it demoralized and demobilized. If Democrats go out of their way to harp on the religious right, they will help the GOP keep their disgruntled troops in line.

When Republicans do step over the line and pander to the religious right, Democrats should whack them. But the party should worry more about persuading voters that it does respect and share their core values.

8) Dance with the one who brung ya. Democrats must return to the core economic themes that won them the White House in 1992. Clinton essentially declared victory over the economy in mid-1993, and other Democrats followed--the single biggest mistake the party made. Clinton never puzzled over an automated checkout counter, but he appeared nearly as removed from people’s economic anxieties as George Bush once did.

It is said of Gramm that every morning he asks himself what he is going to do that day to get himself elected President. Clinton should ask: What am I going to do today that communicates to a 29-year-old, high-school-educated man that I understand his life and concerns and am working to improve his security?

9) Don’t be afraid of class warfare. One sure area of GOP excess is putting the needs of the wealthy and business ahead of ordinary people--which created the Democratic majority that died in 1968. Already, Republicans are promising to cut back on job-training programs and occupational-safety and health programs. This is exactly the ground on which Democrats want to defend government--where it does something important to help working- and middle-class people--and in these debates they should not be shy about asking “Which side are you on?” Older voters need to be reminded, and younger voters need to learn, that the GOP is dedicated to comforting the comfortable.

10) Deficit, schmeficit. Democrats will be tempted to attack the Republicans for their hypocrisy on the issue of the budget deficit, and to position themselves as more fiscally responsible. But the party should learn from Clinton’s experience: What $500 billion in deficit reduction buys you these days is--with another 75 cents--a cup of coffee. Deficit reduction proved the same political plus for Clinton as it did for Republicans when they made it their focus--in the 1930s and 1940s.

What’s more, with taxes and defense off the table, real deficit reduction has to entail serious cuts in programs for the middle class. If Republicans want to inflict pain--as opposed to the painless 1980s conservatism of tax cuts and lavish defense spending--let them do it. But Democrats should not collaborate with a GOP assault on middle-class living standards. The last thing they need is for the middle class to become more convinced government does nothing for them.

11) Make the honoring of work your Golden Rule. The concept of work must be at the core of all that Democrats do and say. This is the thematic glue that brings together concern for the middle class and respect for traditional values--and exposes the Republican’s greatest weaknesses.

A fine current example is the debate over capital-gains taxes. Democrats must go beyond pointing out that cuts in capital gains benefits the wealthy, and join a philosophic battle. Republicans believe unearned income should be taxed only half as much. Democrats should say to working Americans: “We think the money you bring home from hard work is just as worthy as that earned by rich people selling assets. We will never agree to the idea that investing is better or more important than your hard work.”

12) Take the long view. Rebuilding a true Democratic majority will not be achieved by 1996, or even by the end of the century. The burden of proof is on Democrats to show they can make government work for working- and middle-class people--and that will require both regaining control and then using it effectively. For now, Democrats need to focus on preventing Republicans from tearing down all that has been built over the previous half century.

Don’t try to do everything immediately, but take one election at a time. Acknowledging weakness will be painful. But it can also be liberating. If Democrats will face the world honestly, they can give up the rationalizing and the backbiting, focus on their real enemies and get to work. The truth can indeed set you free.*