The Democratic Party - and even more importantly the country - face a very serious and historic crisis - the end of traditional liberalism & conservatism. The Reagan and very short-lived Gingrich eras proved to be unworthy substitutes for the New Deal, because unlike President Franklin Roosevelt, modern conservatives did not develop a useful alternative role for government. As they have in the past, Republicans merely temporarily paralyzed progressive politics.Large majorities of the electorate are disenchanted with both Republicans and Democrats. They justifiably believe that too many Democrats want to take the world back to the New Deal and too many Republicans want to take us back, before the Great Depression - to the turn of the century
People have soundly and repeatedly disdained the calls for conservative "trickle down" economics and intolerant social views. And at every opportunity, as recently as 1994 - they reject traditional liberalism's tax-and-spend policies and something-for-nothing, special-interest politics.
We should resist the trap of believing our victory rests solely on Republican shortcomings and extremism. Democrats have tried that over and over again, only to have paid the price of continual decline. That strategy is a dead-end - it does not provide solutions or help Democrats politically in the long-term.
Please let me be clear. Colorado does not need or want two Republican parties. In my mind, one is probably too much. But it is foolhardy to think that Democrats can merely rewind tapes from the past and play back the New Deal and Great Society.
While Americans rightly believe that the big-government solutions of 1930s and 1960s will not work today, they strongly believe in the values that formed those New Deal and Great Society policies.
They strongly support the Democratic Party's enduring values of strengthening the middle-class and helping those less fortunate to become part of the middle-class.They like John F. Kennedy's message of asking everyone to take personal responsibility and to give something back to their community.They want Democrats to return to its old Andrew Jackson credo of equal opportunity for all and special privilege for none - or as President Clinton has put it, no more something-for-nothing.And finally, they agree with Democrats that the public sector does have an important role to play in this society. The public simply wants government to be more much responsive to its customers and the taxpayers who foot the bill.To promote these historic values and solve today's problems, we must advocate a new, positive, progressive agenda that gives citizens a new choice in politics. Democrats must be about an agenda that transcends the divisions of the past and truly focuses on the future.
Democrats must realize that government cannot no longer protect everyone from adversity. Rather, we must have an agenda that moves beyond entitlements to empowerment strategies that equip the middle class and those less fortunate to do well in the global economy.
It is time for us to be free from false ideological and historical baggage, so that Democrats can begin to freshly approach and aggressively tackle the economic and social challenges of our time. We need to develop new and innovative public initiatives that address the real issues of today's economy and the concerns of the people.
James Gibson
President