New Democrat Update

WHY ALLARD WILL FAIL

The U.S. Senate race between incumbent Wayne Allard and Tom Strickland will boil down to this major fight. The former will try to make this contest a rerun of 1980, 1988, 1994 or even 1996. The latter will make it a debate on the actual choices facing Colorado and the nation today.

Allard will run an old right-wing campaign, wanting a meaner and cheaper government, pushing tax cuts as the only way to revive the economy. He will also support a narrow, social agenda that includes opposing family/medical leave and turning back the clock on a woman's right to choose.

Without any new ideas for a positive role of government, he will continue down the path of abandoning basic public responsibilities. For example, he has consistently opposed the accelerated cleanup of toxic sites in Colorado; stood in the way of protecting pristine wilderness in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and said no to a reasonable patients' bill of rights. A negative view of government, with very little positives to say, will inevitably lead to an overly negative campaign - another potential source of problems for Allard.

Instead of coming to grips with a new challenge, Allard will try to create a straw man, using the very tired and worn-out strategy of labeling Strickland as a "liberal." At a time when even the most traditional-minded Democrats are discarding the old liberal faith, voters will simply not buy it.

For example, Allard cannot use the old tried-and-true GOP charge that his opponent is "soft on crime." Strickland is a strong supporter of the death penalty, and as Colorado's U.S. Attorney, made neighborhoods safer, targeting gun violence and increasing prosecutions by 20 percent.

Like other Republicans around the country, Allard will also try to portray his opponent as a "gun grabber." That attack will also misfire because Strickland brought both sides of the gun debate - the NRA and Handgun Control - together in creating "Colorado Project Exile," an initiative that toughened enforcement of existing firearm laws, tripling the number of gun prosecutions statewide.

The old charge that "Democrats are weak on national defense" will also fail. Strickland's proposals strengthen homeland security - beefing up training and resources for state and local "first responders," as well as stockpiling vaccines and antibiotics. That agenda looks much better than Allard's opposition to treaties banning chemical weapons, dismissive comments about the anthrax outbreaks, and complete silence on homeland security.

Finally, after the voters hear Strickland's economic agenda, Republicans will be deprived of the other part of their traditional strategy - pounding Democrats for their support of economic redistribution and big government.

Strickland supports innovation and technology; an open, fair and competitive world trading system; investments in the skills and knowledge of the American people, as well as the infrastructure; and a fiscally disciplined federal government.

Strickland's economic opportunity agenda is a stark contrast to the failed, supply-side policies long favored by Allard and the GOP. Voters know that old thinking has only, once again, produced slower growth, no real increases in productivity, stagnant incomes and rising budget deficits.

In the end, Allard's strategy will fail because a whole new generation of voters will know little or even care about the epic partisan wars of earlier decades. Voters will conclude that he wants to refight the political battles of the past because he doesn't have a clue of how to meet the challenges of the present and future.

Another reason the charges will not stick is because Strickland is not a traditional liberal. As a "New Democrat," he embraces mainstream values and aspirations - liberty of conscience, individual responsibility, tolerance, work, faith, family, community and economic opportunity through the private sector. Furthermore, he advocates a new kind of public activism that equips citizens, families, and communities with the tools they need to solve their own problems.

A good example is what government can do to help working people in the new economy. None of us can rely on a lifetime job with one company for seamless health insurance and retirement security. So we need private health insurance and pensions that move with workers. Workers deserve the same tools for economic security that executives have.

Government cannot, and should not, provide the benefits directly, but should instead empower workers to look out for themselves by making sure pension and health care benefits are portable. That kind of agenda is nothing like the old liberal ideology which was built on the idea that big institutions like government, business and unions should take care of people.

Recent history tells us that Republicans beat Old Democrats but New Democrats beat Republicans. Tom Strickland is a New Democrat.

ONLINE PRIVACY

According to national polls, 68 million Americans have accessed government web sites, a 70 percent increase from just two years ago. Online government visits now exceed getting financial information and sport scores on the Internet. Large majorities expect digital government to have a positive effect on the way government operates, produce more accountable government, enhance the public sector's ability to keep citizens informed, and improve the level of coordination between local, state and federal government.

At the same time, online security and fraud concerns remain significant obstacles to digital government's full potential, especially communicating interactively. Fortunately, a new technology called Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) empowers Internet visitors to set their privacy preferences (which the visited web site automatically reads), for how they allow their personal information to be used. If the web site's privacy policies do not comply with the specified personal preferences, the software sends an alert to the visitor. All of that happens instantly without interrupting the visitor's Internet usage or having to understand the fine print of a web site's often legalistic privacy policy.

Since web sites have been slow in implementing P3P, Colorado state and local governments should lead the way by adopting it for their own sites. Leadership from the public sector will push all kinds of web sites to adopt P3P and make it a universal standard, paving the way for digital government and e-commerce.

Citizens want the convenience of doing business online. They should not have to forego these great opportunities to safeguard their privacy.

"BUSH'S ACHILLES HEEL"

With mess-ups on social issues, economics and trade, energy and foreign policy, President Bush is not as invincible as he once looked. His biggest weakness with the American people may be his strict obedience to corporate power.

Find out why this Bush may suffer the same fate in 2004 his father did 12 years ago in the new Blueprint. Read the magazine online. If you would like a hard copy, contact Jim Gibson.