[Magdalen] House vote.

[Scott Knitter]

And Democrats in general are less hostile toward the idea of
government doing what it does (as opposed to Republicans who want to
privatize stuff, or who think government shouldn't pay for things like
the arts, environment, healthcare, and helping the poor). So Democrats
approach things from a different angle altogether.

I've often thought recently that the Democratic Party needs to do a
better job of tightly defining its philosophy and agenda and using all
modern techniques to promote it and make it known, partly so that
agenda can stop being "defined" via right-wing critiques. Parties in
other Western democracies tend to make a big deal of their party
platform: you see people with copies of it in news reports, it's well
promoted and disseminated online and in other media, it's presented in
a fairly compelling and accessible way. There needs to be some
topnotch communication planning and PR savvy.

So instead of "Democrats are tax-and-spend lovers of big government
and deficit spending," the party would make clear its belief not in
big government but in good government that executes and defends the
Constitution and is our best way of providing services fairly and
protecting rights equally across the country. Support for arts and
sciences is not aimed at showing profits but improving life in this
nation and encouraging a vibrant culture.

In other words, equip all Democrats with the real common story with
which to counter the usual accusations, but even more than that, help
everyone know what the party is about and that it's a worldview people
can get on board with.

On Fri, Mar 24, 2017 at 2:08 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford
<oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> Right now, we have a real problem because the Dems are even worse organized
> than ever, which is saying something. It's not that they are too liberal
> (they aren't), but that they really do not stand for particular specific
> things you can take to the bank.




-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA