Do's and Don'ts for the Dems

It's the question that seems to be on everybody's lips (or everybody's blogs, anyway): Now that Democrats have taken Congress from the Republicans, what should they do in the next two years?

So let me throw my two cents into the ring (to mix a metaphor or two), and offer my list of Post-'06 Do's and Don'ts for the Fightin' Dems.

Do's

1. Keep the spotlight on Bush, and make Bush responsible for Iraq.

As many have pointed out, the Democratic Fightback of '06 was really more about dissatisfaction with the Republicans than about a permanent realignment toward the Dems. Congress was corrupt, but Bush - his incompetence, his stubbornness, his arrogance, and most of all his disaster in Iraq - was the #1 Bugaboo for all those angry independent voters. Now Congress has flipped, but the Dems' big advantage is still intact: Bush is still in power, and we're still (to borrow a line from John Kerry) stuck in Iraq.

George Bush is an old-school Texas authoritarian, and Texas authoritarians (as I know from 18 years of experience) don't really understand the idea of compromise - "our team vs. their team" is the only concept they fully grasp. That's why Bush's tiny, grudging attempts at triangulation and compromise have always been followed by abrupt, indignant lurches back to his original position. The more Bush is pushed to do the right thing by "their team" (i.e. Democrats), the more likely he is to do exactly the wrong thing. That's why Bush will never ever withdraw from Iraq unless Congress absolutely forces him to.

Don't do it. It's a trap. If the new Democratic Congress forces Bush's hand, he'll do the obvious thing, which is to blame "cut-and-run Democrats" for the bloody Iraqi civil war that will follow. So let's not give him that chance. Congress should keep reminding the American people that the president is still the commander-in-chief, and that Iraq is still entirely Bush's bag. The more the Dems demand a strategy from Bush, the less he'll give one. Let him stew in his collossal failure for two more years, because Iraq is screwed anyway. But whatever you do, Dems, keep the spotlight on The Decider.


2. Investigate, hold hearings, and air out Bush's dirty laundry.

This is the obvious one, and everyone has been saying it. As Brad deLong points out with every other blog post, the media has done a terrible job of focusing attention on the malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence of the Bush administration. Now it's time for Congress to do that job. No-bid contracts for Administration buddies? Hold hearings. Unqualified cronies being appointed to important positions? Hold hearings. Clandestine dealings with energy companies? Etc.

Since no members of the Democratic leadership read this blog, there's a 0% chance this suggestion will be taken, but I think this Congress should label itself the "Sunlight Congress." As in, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." But also to convery a hopeful tone, and emphasize that the long horror of the Bush years can finally end if Americans keep voting Democratic.


3. Pass small, popular pieces of legislation that Bush will want to veto.

Stem-cell research. Minimum wage hike. Carbon tax. Pay-as-you-go. College tuition assistance. Negotiation with pharmaceutical companies. These things are good ideas that Bush will want to veto, because they come from "the other team".

On issues like these, Bush routinely puts himself on the opposite side of public opinion. So if he vetoes these initiatives, Democrats can make political hay. But if he bows before public opinion and signs them, not only will the state of the nation be immediately improved (always a good thing), but Dems will be able to claim the credit. Bush is damned-if-he-do, damned-if-he-don't, and that's the way it ought to be.

4. Trim the pork.

One of the few pieces of Republican invective that has always held a grain of truth is that most Democrats of the '80s and '90s were fairly reluctant to cut federal spending. A quick look at Democratic party platforms would reveal a dazzling list of spending initiatives, and few or no suggestions for cuts. But it was the Republicans that actually increased spending massively over the last 6 years, and it was mostly pork that went to their buddies.

Time for Dems to kill two birds with one stone. Find the pork, cut the pork. It's good for the government's finances, and it's good for America, because well-connected companies should not be able to get ahead by cozying up to politicians - they should be forced to compete in the free market like everyone else. The Dems have an opportunity to shed the "free-spending" label and the "anti-market" label at the same time, while weakening Bush cronies and starting to fix our financial mess.

5. Keep building the coalition for 2008.

The Dems basically won this election by running three very different types of candidates to appeal to three very different kind of groups: traditional liberals in the Northeast, labor-supporters in the Midwest, and libertarians in the West. That's an unbeatable coalition for 2008 if it can stay together - the Republicans, finally losing the libertarians after decades of falsely labeling themselves the "party of small government," now have only the Southern Baptists and the good-old-boy corporatists.

But for the Dems to hold together their triple alliance will take continuous outreach and continuous creativity in finding ways to please all three groups. Blend minimum-wage hikes and "fair trade" rhetoric with spending cuts and environmental protection.

And Dems should keep trying to lure more and more evangelical Christians to their camp. This should NOT, of course, be done by bashing gays or caving on abortion. It should be done by stressing those issues where Dems and evangelicals agree - poverty reduction and the environment - and finding new issues to cooperate on, like fighting human trafficking and ending human-rights abuses in Sudan.


Don'ts

1. Do NOT cooperate with Bush on his big initiatives.

What? no bipartisanship? But wasn't it all about changing the tone?

It's a trap! If any Democrats think that the Fightback of '06 has truly humbled Bush and turned him into a bipartisan compromiser, well, I have a bridge to sell you (hint: it's in Alaska). Remember, this is the man who refuses to say "Democratic" to describe your party, shortening the adjective to "Democrat". This is the most partisan president in history, a man who started a war and destroyed his country's finances just to discredit his domestic political opposition (that would be YOU).

And behind Bush is the machine that made him, the Republican party, a party that took 12 years of congressional control to sink to the level of corruption that it took the Democrats over 40 to reach. The party that has engaged in more misleading (or flat-out false) negative advertising than any in modern history. The party that has lined the pockets of...OK, you get the point. And there is no sign that this election will induce Republicans to moderate - in fact, they're likely to do the opposite.

Any chance to pass big sweeping legislation by compromising with Bush should therefore be avoided. It is imperative not to let the Republicans take credit for anything. So no sweeping immigration reform. It's a worthy goal, but it'll still be a worthy goal in 2009.

2. Do not start infighting, especially over Israel.

Predictably, there's been a lot of debate over who's responsible for this Dem victory. The fault line, as usual, is between "netroots" bloggers and centrist party operatives like Rahm Emmanuel. This in itself is not worrying - all parties have tensions between the establishment and the base.

But if either side decides that it's time to purge the infidel, and seizes on some nothing of an issue to start viciously infighting, I will tear out every hair on my skull. Ominously, the blogs are already rumbling with just such an issue: Israel. More than one influential blogger has warned the new Democratic Congress not to "move to the right" on Israel. Some, such as Matthew Yglesias, are already holding up opposition to AIPAC as the new litmus test by which Dems can win blogger support.

This is insanity. Republicans have lost a war (maybe two), plunged out country deep into debt, trampled on our most hallowed civil liberties, and divided our nation's body politic, and Democrats are prepared to tear their coalition apart over Israel? An issue on which no one has a really defensible position anyway? It boggles the mind. If Democrats start slaughtering each other over Israel while Republicans gear up for 2008, then all is lost.

3. Don't reverse the Bush tax cuts (yet).

Bush will just veto it if you try. Instead, wait for them to sunset (in 2010), and then stop Republicans from renewing them. It's a lot easier to argue against "further tax cuts" than to "raise taxes", even if it amounts to the same thing. But I have a feeling the Dems already realize this.

4. Don't go protectionist.

One of the first blog posts I read after election night was called "The End of So-Called Free Trade Has Arrived." Stirling Newberry echoed that sentiment. A story in Slate detailed how the "Lou Dobbs Democrats" have turned Clinton's party to the protectionist Dark Side.

It's true that an essential element in the Democrats' victory was to promise workers (mostly in the Midwest) relief from the terror of outsourcing and unfair foreign competition. But there's a right way and a wrong way to go about pleasing that constituency. Protectionism - tariffs, canceling Free Trade Agreements, and punishing companies that outsource - is clearly the wrong way. It's wrong because this kind of policy would actually hurt our economy, and the Democrats would (rightfully, in that case) take the blame.

A better approach is to focus on "fair trade." Pressure our trading partners to open their markets to our strongest industries. So far, countries like China have been very eager to sell us their manufactured goods, but very reluctant to open their protected domestic service industries to the things we do best - finance, insurance, retail, marketing, telecoms, and IT. Emphasizing that trade is a two-way street is the best way to support free trade while also helping out American workers. And to that list, we can add pressuring China to revalue their currency (which is leading to trade imbalances), protect intellectual property, and implement better labor standards.

"Fair trade" is a good slogan, and it can translate into good policy if it's done right. But protectionism is a different thing entirely, and its siren song could lead the Dems down the path of destruction. Stay away.


Basically, all of these Do's and Don'ts amount to one message - the war has just begun. The Republican Party has become a corrupt and baleful force in American politics, and the only answer is to build the Democratic Party into an equally strong, equally cohesive alternative.

Bush and the Republican Congress wreaked havoc on our nation, and they were punished for it this past Tuesday. But they'll be back, porbably even more corrupt and authoritarian than before. The "permanent majority" that Grover Norquist promised them still seems real to them, it's still dangling right in front of their eyes. They see the Fightback of '06 as a hiccup, a speed bump, an aberration. And if we don't keep our eyes on the ball, they'll be right.

So remember, Dems: 2008 is the apocalypse. Until we get our nation out of the hole that the Republicans have dug it into, it's the apocalypse every day. 722 days.