TOWARD A NEW PLATFORM FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

by Herb Rubenstein
CEO, Herb Rubenstein Consulting

Introduction

The political leader of the Democratic Party in the 1990’s stated, “The Age of Big Government is Over.” He balanced the budget and even created a surplus. He presided over an economic boon that turned into a bust as soon as the Republicans took over the White House. He transformed the welfare system to require millions of people to get jobs. He almost achieved peace in the mid-east. He was impeached as in now ranked in the bottom third of our American presidents.

Current Democratic Party Platform

Where is the Democratic Party and its platform in 2002? Not just the “written platform presented every four years at some convention.” But where is the Democratic Party platform where it counts – in the mind of the voter. The Democratic Party platform looks something like this as of November 5, 2002.

1. We want to protect the American people from attack but prefer not to support a Department of Homeland Security that cuts into valued civil service protections of federal workers.
2. We want to stop Iraq, but we will give only lukewarm support to a President and Secretary of State even while they are seeking the full support of the United Nations.
3. We want to improve education, but not at the expense of trying new approaches like vouchers since they hurt public teachers and their unions.
4. We support the environment but oppose balancing environmental harm with economic harm.
5. We support civil rights, affirmative action and diversity but have no plan that is consistently approved by the courts and have done little to educate the American people about the true benefits of diversity.
6. We want better health care and prescription drug benefits for our senior citizens, but can not figure out a way to make this happen while soaring healthcare costs are bankrupting people as well as state, local and federal governments.
7. We support improved transportation, but rely on pork barrel public works projects and public transportation subsidies that do not alleviate the gridlock faced in every major city today.
8. We stand for integrity, but run candidates who have been censored for ethical violations until it is obvious they will lose.
9. We support adequate housing, but can not fix the public housing debacles that plague our cities.
10. We support reducing crime, but have no plan that will result in significantly less crime in 10 years.
11. We want tax reform, but have not presented a comprehensive tax reform plan in recent memory.
12. We want improved government services, but have no means of holding government workers accountable for poor services.
13. We support energy independence, but oppose energy exploration or increased production of energy in the U.S.
14. We think social security trust fund will go bankrupt, but we have no plan to scale it back.
15. We support the right of a mother to choose whether to have an abortion and the government must pay for the abortion of persons eligible for medical assistance from the government. But, the government will not pay for the adoption of a child if the mother chooses not to have an abortion and to put the child up for adoption.

Fifteen planks in the platform. Fifteen “buts.” Fifteen “blanks” with the majority of American voters. The party platform, as seen through the eyes of the voters leaves the average voter with no clue what the Democratic Party really stands for.

Republican Platform

In contrast the Republican Party platform is clear, even if it is misguided. Several planks include:

1. Stop terror, create Department of Homeland Security.
2. Topple Saddam Hussein.
3. Reduce taxes.
4. Limit abortion.
5. Use vouchers to give school children a choice.
6. Support churches and faith based organizations to do more for people.
7. Stand for integrity.
8. Stop unions from closing down our seaports and their attempts to protect their jobs from new, better, more efficient technologies.
9. Free trade.
10. Low interest rates.
11. Less government, especially less federal and less regulation of business and more privatization of government services.
12. Take economic factors into consideration when making environmental choices.

Conclusion

These twelve Republican Party platforms are clear, concise and understood by the majority of the American voters who vote on election day. It is clear from comparing these two “platforms” that the Democrats need to create a concise message to contrast with the concise Republican message.

In this day of soundbites, the message must be simple, clear and straight forward and delivered by people who are genuine, authentic, sincere and believable. That is the “Challenge of the Century” for the Democratic Party. No “ifs,” “ands” or “buts” about it.

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