Though I hold no position in the Democratic Party, I do have some ideas as to how these next couple of months should be played. There are some of us who are right now getting queasy over one of a couple things: news cycle focus shift from Plame leak to the Supreme Court nomination, lack of criticism for the nominee and how the Downing Street Memos aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Where some see a situation where dread and anxiety could reign, I see something that’s entirely manageable. Going into this summer, Democrats have an opportunity to set themselves up right for the next session, but some specific concepts need focus if they’re to take advantage.
1. Message Discipline – Democrats must buy into a plan and stick to it. When the media and GOP are intent on focusing on a specific story, every quote or sound bite offered by Democrats will be used to keep the ball in the air. Congressmen cannot take the bait on the Robert’s nomination, as the hearing is still months away. John Kerry and Robert Wexler have already made headlines foreshadowing the potential outcome of a confirmation battle. Kerry’s not a member of the Senate Judiciary Board and Wexler is a member of the House. I’m not going to say that it’s none of their business, but Leahy, Kennedy, Biden, Kohl, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer and Durbin will be the ones questioning Roberts.
The Democrat’s strategy on Roberts needs to be coordinated through these Senators, with everyone else taking their cues from them. If random Democrats are providing Republicans and the press quotes to eat up the summer with, it will negatively effect our ability to frame other issues effectively. If the DNC has a strategy concerning the Plame leak, a single quote from a Democrat concerning Roberts can derail the effort. Obviously Kerry’s statement regarding the release of records concerning Robert’s past could have been delegated to him because of the conflict regarding the release of his own records, but if it was uncoordinated – he never should have spoken out.
2. Prioritize Effectively – The Roberts nomination is not taking place for months, but the Plame leak investigation is scheduled to end in October. Reporters are discovering new facts concerning the investigation almost every day. On Monday the State Department’s memo concerning Wilson’s trip to Niger clearly identified Valerie as Wilson’s wife, along with the fact that her identity was classified as ‘secret’. A Congressional hearing was held on Friday with former CIA agents who spoke about how serious the President’s response to the leak was. A letter they wrote was released earlier in the week. In spite of all this, the press’s attention has waned with the Plame leak headlines.
Democrats can turn this trend around by making sure they prioritize the issues, and ensure that the one that will provide them the most success is given the most attention in terms of what is said. This alone will not ensure the issue regains national focus, but ensuring Congressional Democrats do not provide quotes on smaller issues that the GOP can leverage to their advantage will help. The RNC’s goal is to make abortion the big issue this summer, but in order for them to achieve this, Democrats have to fuel the fire. The battle for top political issue now is about the Plame leak/runup to the Iraq war vs. abortion.
3. Simplify the Message – The President’s lack of response to a leak of classified information is ‘eroding national security’. We want what all Americans want, and that’s a President who ‘cares more about our national security than protecting his friends’. The President’s job is to ‘defend the Constitution, not his friends’. His administration ‘admitted the 16 words were false’, but continue to ‘smear whoever told the truth’. When Republicans want to divert the attention so it’s ‘all about Wilson’, say ‘Wilson was right, the President was wrong’.
‘The President needs to stop lying’. That statement will resonate with voters, as honesty and accountability were two things Bush was going to bring to the White House. Focus the message on the President putting his friends before the security of our families, and the fact that America has been lied to. There’s nothing that aggravates average hard working Americans more than patronage, it’s right up there with dishonesty. Make sure the message highlights these two factors.
Democrats can take a page out of the GOP playbook and hold off on providing opinions on the Roberts nomination until, ‘all the facts are in’. Meanwhile, the conversations we hoped would take place when the Downing Street Memos were released can begin happening as the facts regarding the Plame leak hit the papers. Framing the summer dialog on the single most important issue facing the nation today – Iraq – will equal a positive response from voters and keep Republicans on the defensive, where they belong. The war is not what we were told it would be, and veterans are not being treated as they deserve to be. Republicans are taking care of their friends first, and taking care of national security, along with the people who sacrifice everything for that cause, second.
How do the democrats connect with the majority of Americans? Howard Dean as head man isn’t the answer ! Roberts will be confirmed. The nominee to replace the Chief Justice will be the real fight.
Democrats should start talking about ways to “win” in Iraq. Even some conservatives are starting to notice that their are problems with the current strategy.
Joe Biden developed a comprehensive strategy that everyone ignored.
http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20050621biden.htm
Joe Biden will never be President. He cannot bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats.
Dick Durbin’s on Meet the Press and the OBVIOUS landmine in his appearance was Roe v. Wade, and he stepped on every single one of them. I’m disappointed in this guy – and the DNC in not preparing him for this appearance. He had been against Roe v. Wade in ’83 according to a letter he wrote to a constituent, and Russert droped that on him…he put it to rest (not really) by quoting Lincoln saying, ‘I’d rather be wrong some of the time than all of the time’ (something like that), but in between that line and Russert’s landmine, he said too much.
Democrats have to do better at not getting roped into this discussion on abortion until it’s time to confirm Roberts. The entire political spectrum cannot be focused on a single issue whenever the GOP needs to rely on it. I’m sick of Dems falling into the trap, trying to explain their position, because it doesn’t make a difference to pro-lifers.
When a Democrat argues why the support Roe v. Wade, they’re talking to a brick wall. Duck the question – MOVE ON…
The President’s lack of response to a leak of classified information is ‘eroding national security’.
My fear, as a conservative, is that the Democrats will stop talking about this Plame issue and National Security. One of the “universal truthes” is that Democrats don’t know anything about national security, the military or how to conduct a war.
Democrats talking about how to fight a war is a lot like Hugh Hefner advocating abstinance. Especially after Vietnam, it’s a little insulting that the DNC has taken a sudden and unexplained hysteria with the Plame/Wilson/DNC scandal. Liberals hate the CIA for all the damage they have done to liberal and communist factions across the globe. Now all of a sudden it’s time to protect the purveyors of “death and destruction?” I don’t buy it.
The DNC, to really be effect, needs to drop any hint of military, security and intelligence skill and go for the social policies they have been known for that last several decades. Kerry lost, in part, for trying to be a liberal warmonger and that was just too funny for the public to take seriously. The message needs to be socially based and they need to stop hating Jews and Catholics and all the other religions.