Good government isn't easy. Leaders at all levels of government have to deal with exceedingly complex, interlinked issues such as limited budgets, growing poverty, lower education levels combined with higher education requirements, outsourcing, rising energy prices, burgeoning healthcare costs, increased foreign competition, nuclear proliferation - and, of course, the ever-present fear of terrorist attack.There are no easy answers. There are no permanent, "final" solutions. There are no clean, sound-bite remedies. Regardless of what we see on television, these issues cannot be wrapped up cleanly in an hour.
The good news is that, after three decades of Republican assurances that there are simple, clean answers, and that they own a monopoly on these answers, Americans are beginning to realize that it just ain't so. The other side of that coin is the self-appointed pundits' "worries" that the Democrats have no simple answers. Apparently, the pundits are behind the times.
The Democratic answer is that government is not clean, it is not simple, and real solutions cannot be delivered in a 10-point "Contract" or a buzz-word filled title. The Democratic answer is based on the one overarching truth about government - that we need leaders who will argue, debate, even yell and scream at each other, until possible answers to the complex problems we face emerge. Then we put those compromise solutions into place, understanding that we will have to revisit the questions again soon.
Will Rogers was famous for saying, "I'm not a member of any organized political party; I'm a Democrat." This is exactly why Democrats are better suited to lead. The Republicans don't argue enough; they strategize and advertise, but they don't really hammer out solutions that can actually work. Democrats may seem disorganized, parochial, individualistic to the point of near-anarchy - but only Democrats will engage in the dirty process required to get the job done right.
The question is, can the Democrats sell this idea in a national election?
The answer is yes. In fact, Democrats are already doing just that, without strategy sessions, focus groups or slick marketing campaigns. The emerging national strategy is a two-pronged approach. First, make sure the voters understand that the Republicans' childishly simplistic answers are dismal failures. Then, hammer home the point that only the Democrats are willing to do the dirty work required to arrive at true solutions.
In other words, tell the voters the truth. "Republicans are out of touch with the real world. Their cartoon-level platitudes and childish, phony titles aren't even real answers, much less real solutions. You know that the issues are too complex for Republicans to deal with. Only the Democrats are willing to tackle the messy truth. Only Democrats are willing to make the tough decisions. And only the Democrats are willing to change course when we find that we're going in the wrong direction."
In an earlier column, I defined the difference between the two parties simply. "Republicans assume voters are stupid; Democrats fear this is true." As soon as Democrats conquer their fear and give voters the benefit of the doubt, we can win.
Copyright 2006, Dan Jacoby
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