New Democrat Update - September 2004
FIGHTING FOR THE “THIRD WAY”
The Democratic Leadership Council and New Democrats advocate a governing philosophy that simultaneously confronts the policy challenges of the Information Age and the political challenges of conservatism. This modernization of the progressive tradition, known as the “Third Way,” is taking root in the Democratic Party here in Colorado, nationally, and in progressive parties around the world.
The Third Way gives people opportunity in exchange for individual responsibility, while making sure that hard work and sacrifice pay off in economic security and prosperity. In the New Economy, the private sector - not government - is the primary engine of economic opportunity for all. The critical obligation of the public sector is to create a climate of opportunities for ordinary citizens and equip them to succeed.
The ingredients of a healthy economy have changed significantly. In the old economy, a good harbor, a surplus of labor, plenty of capital and good weather were the keys to prosperity. Today's economy needs well-educated employees, state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure networks that link firms and customers to markets. That takes public investments in worker education and skills training, basic research for new technologies, and a world-class infrastructure - roads, bridges, communication systems and the like.
However, the Third Way is more than just making monetary ends meet. It recognizes that it is not enough to just talk about the “bread-and-butter” issues like jobs, health care and education.
Too often, today’s debate degenerates between those calling for “every man for himself and if you don't make it so be it,” and others who say, "don't worry about it if you don't make it, the government will do it for you." In sharp contrast, the Third Way calls for a strong sense of mutual obligation. In other words, no more something-for-nothing regardless of your income or status - equal opportunity for all, special privilege for none.
Citizens have responsibilities: first, to themselves and their families, to take advantage of those opportunities; and second, to their country and community, to give something back to the commonwealth. Every advantage gained from the community must generate a corresponding obligation to the community. No community can long survive unless its members dedicate some of their attention, energy, and resources to shared goals.
Finally, the Third Way also directly confronts the social issues of our times, ranging from guns and abortion, to religion and the struggles of families to raise children. Too many Democrats avoid taking on these key cultural issues - a failure on the merits, and politically. Silence and trying to change the subject only reinforces the false, negative stereotypes about Democrats that conservatives have spent enormous time and money building and exploiting.
The way to deal with divisive social issues is to have a good answer. Dodging questions in the culture war just sends the message, "Check your values at the door, and vote your self-interest like everyone else." As New Democrats have demonstrated, our party can generate support from voters who often do not vote Democratic - gun owners (see more on them below), people of faith, parents, and white males - without in any way compromising progressive principles.
New Democrats are focused on the next generation, not just the next election. Government does not have all the answers to the problems we face. We need to get beyond the stale debates over safeguarding or slashing this or that program or regulation and move to a broader discussion about how to reorganize government in a fundamental way so we can keep people safe from criminals, educate our children, and help our economy grow, without getting in the way of the people's aspirations for a better life.
If all Democrats embrace the Third Way, our party - and more importantly, Colorado and the country - will be much stronger for it.
DEADLY SILENCE
The debate over guns has done serious political damage to state Democrats the last few years. As mentioned above, some in our party believe that we should simply avoid such cultural issues and change the subject. This misguided strategy hopes that gun owners - who represent almost four in ten voters - will then focus on other bread and butter issues like jobs, health care and education. Such flawed thinking concludes gun owners will just ignore the firearms issue when they go into the voting booth.
An analysis by Americans for Gun Safety (the organization that supported the successful state ballot initiative which closed the gun-show loophole in Colorado) concludes such a strategy would be disastrous. Gun-owning voters, unless otherwise convinced, have already made up their minds that Democrats are anti-gun. Gun owners deeply believe that our party wants to ban firearms, looks down on them, does not respect their values and blames them for America’s crime problem.
A Democratic silence strategy opens a big hole Republicans are more than willing to fill. Without some proactive change in our message, the “gun gap,” a 26-percentage point deficit nationally for Democrats, will continue to take its toll, especially here in Colorado.
Progressives can make much more headway reducing gun violence by respecting 2nd Amendment rights, insisting on personal responsibility and being pro-gun safety. That means defending gun rights but emphasizing that with rights come responsibilities - we must keep firearms out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and children. It is only common sense that guns, like any other dangerous consumer product, must be reasonably regulated. Specifically, Democrats should aggressively call for:
Strengthening the background check system. Many criminals are still able to get guns because of shoddy records. Over 7,000 people who should have been barred from buying guns purchased them anyway.Fighting the black market in guns. Gun running should carry the same strong penalties as drug trafficking.Preserving the ban on assault weapons (without congressional action, the federal ban expires this month). Otherwise, these dangerous guns will soon be back on the streets.Vigorously enforcing those laws already on the books. Less than one percent of federal gun crimes are pursued. Just as bad, 20 of the 22 major gun laws are ignored by prosecutors. Full enforcement itself might go a long way to solving gun violence.Our party must start speaking out and reasoning with gun owners, rather than insulting them. When Democrats avoid stating where they stand on guns, most voters assume the default liberal position. Our party should not let Republicans fill in the blanks.
When it comes to Democrats and guns, silence is not golden.
“THE COMEBACK PARTY”
In the latest edition of Blueprint, the DLC’s flagship policy journal, Al From and Bruce Reed write "If Democrats want to be the majority party in America, they need once again to summon the boldness, innovation and determination to apply those New Democrat values and principles to a whole new set of challenges in the post-9/11 21st century. Kerry has a chance to make his own mark and complete the transformation of the Democratic Party as the one Americans can trust to make the nation stronger both at home and abroad."