A Better Country (Morton / Baltimore City Paper)

[struggle4progress]

By Brian Morton

... If the last eight years have taught us anything, it's that people who don't like government and don't want much government probably shouldn't be trusted to run whatever government we have to have. In 2000, John McCain ran as a reformer (back when he had some actual claim to the title), and George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, immediately ran on a slogan saying he was a "reformer with results." The end result was that we got a president who believed that slogans were an effective substitute for government ...

Part of what has failed Democrats is the constant call by disingenuous commentators for "new ideas." The ideas Democrats should be running on are the same ones that built them as a majority from the end of the Great Depression and World War II all the way to the flabby and undisciplined party that lost the majority under Tom Foley in 1994. Social Security. Medicare and Medicaid. A strong environment. Quality public education from kindergarten through high school. Affordable college education for those who want to go.

Combine these principles with the devotion to science and technology that built this country during the baby-boom years into a juggernaut that went from putting a man on the moon to creating a technological and communications revolution with the internet. The new ideas of today combined with the solid principles of the past can help Democrats win majorities again if they have the courage of their convictions--and stick to them ...

http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16936