What do Democrats stand for, in five simple sentences?

[thatcrazycajun]

An article on ThePolitico.com posits the notion, based on recent improvements, that the Democratic Party has actually been strengthened by its "wilderness years" of not having control of a single branch of US govermment between 2002 and 2006. The article is here; the money quote follows:

Lee Edwards, a historian and distinguished fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation...gives the left good marks for building a donor base and promoting its policies. He concedes that the Democratic Party “stole the margin” when it comes to using the Internet.

Still, he believes Democrats suffer from significant disadvantages: Their donor base is too small and they have yet to establish a philosophical base for their positions. “They can’t come up with five crisp statements based on the founding of this country to explain their philosophy,” he argued.

I know what I believe in with regard to public policy and current issues. I know what the party, historically at least, has promoted in its platforms and policies. But I can't come up with "five crisp statements" of these things and link them to "the founding of this country" in a way that makes sense to me. (One can argue about the detriments of trying to reduce a nuanced, thoughtful political philosophy to a handful of bumper-sticker slogans; but concise summations are usually necessary to sell the product, as any ad man can tell you.) The country was founded on a desire for freedom from tyranny, as we all know from elementary-school history; but some of the problems we face today could never have been imagined by the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) of 1776.

Any fellow Democrats/liberals out there care to take a whack at it?

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

First: I'm sure you're aware that Politico is a part of the Republican Noise Machine. As such, its logic is always suspect, its "facts" more so; the only thing certain is its intention to influence minds away from the Democrats.

Second: 1. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

2. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

3. "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

4. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

5. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

All of these are far more in accord with Democratic Party platforms than with those of Republican planks, and certainly orders of magnitude closer to actual Democratic Administrations and Congresses than those of the Republicans (particularly since Richard "the Crook" Nixon and his gang of thugs were in charge).

Now the task is to get the reins of power back out of the thugs' grubby little paws and restore that document, especially in its intent.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Okay, you've made the link to the Founders...now how can you put those in short, crisp sentences that don't take so long to say and can be understood by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Middle-Class Voter? Just cribbing verbatim from the Constitution isn't going to do the job; the verbiage alone puts people off and confuses them unless they've got at least a B.A. (and given our sorry excuse for an educational system, even that's no guarantee).

Read again: How can we clearly, authentically and succinctly explain what we believe?

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Freedom of religion.
Freedom of speech.
Freedom of the press.
The right to assemble.
The right to be secure in one's house.
Protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
The government needs warrants that IT must justify in advance for searches.
The right to trial by jury.
No double jeopardy -- once acquitted, you're free.
Everyone's entitled to due process.
Habeas corpus.
The right to a speedy and public trial.
The right to confront your accuser.
The right to counsel at trial.
These rights are the beginning, not the end, of the list.


Short and sweet enough for you? (They are almost ALL taken verbatim; the ones that aren't, are familiar enough.)

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

I) My fate should not be in the hands of my employer
A) I should not starve or be forced to endure daily humiliation becauseof the whims of the personnel office
B) I should not be denied medical care because I'm not good enough for health insurance

II) My private life is not the business of my government
A) No government has any business dictating my sex life
B) Government has no more business mandating I have children than it does mandating that I don't.
C) No government has any business telling me about religion

III) Wealth does not give the greedy and powerful the right to commit legalized fraud
A) I have the right to expect products to do what they say as safely as is reasonable
B) I have the right to expect honesty in substance and not just the letter of a contract from a financial instition

IV) Wealth does not give the greedy and powerful the right to destroy my world
A) I have the right to breathe and drink clean air and water
B) It is the duty of the government to set aside as part of our heritage as human beings

V) I expect my government to refrain from war unless it's damned well essential

How's that? Or do those subheadings make it too complicated?

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Peter, that's beautiful. Unfortunately, some of the ideals put forward are not always true in our society. Employer should also include landlord. The writer Thomas Disch recently committed suicide in part because a landlord was trying to evict him. IB is a huge problem, and many will die and suffer unnecessarily before it can be fixed. IIC is a 230+ year old ideal that has never happened for real and probably never will. I would like to see a federal law that says politicians need to shut up about their (&#*&$) religions, and that includes, in particular, faith-based initiatives. Al-Quaida is a faith-based initiative. III is simply not true under a system that says a corporation is legally equivalent to a person and fails to hold the owners of the corporation (from CEO to stockholders) personally liable for the crimes committed by the corporation. IVB doesn't seem like it's complete. But well done.

I would have come up with something silly, like the Firesign Theater's line, A fair for all and no fare to anyone!

Yes, live in the future. It's just starting now. The future is fun! The future is fair! You may have already won! You may already be there!

I'm surprised some republican hasn't come out with a book entitled "The Audacity of Bob Hope."