Friday, Sep 5, 2008
Rep. Barney Frank, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Alan Wolfe, Thomas Frank, Andrew Greeley and others weigh in on how Kerry should define America -- and defeat Bush's morality crusade.
Jul 26, 2004 |
Editor's note: On the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Salon asked a range of experts to discuss how Kerry-Edwards should address the critical issues of the presidential election. Read Part 1 of the discussion, "How John Kerry Should Handle Iraq," here.
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Compiled by Salon staff
July 26, 2004 |
Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America"
Conservatives have expended vast resources to pin a sinful label on their hated foe, "liberal elite." Just the book titles alone sound like a list of cardinal sins: Arrogance, Bias, Persecution, Slander, Treason. Along the way, they have even managed to persuade the mainstream media that the GOP, thanks to its strength in the "heartland," holds a monopoly on all the virtues of Boy Scout law: humility, loyalty, piety, honesty, trustworthiness and so on.
Until now, the Democratic response has been wild, panicked me-too-ism. They seem to have forgotten the old Madison Avenue rule that making the identical claims as your competitor only strengthens his message, makes him seem like the real thing and you a cheap wannabe. A particularly disheartening example was John Kerry's recent claim to be a bearer of "conservative values," a tacit concession that liberals -- the rank and file of John Kerry's party, by the way -- really don't have good values. It was a tactical blunder that should have infuriated good liberals everywhere.
Democrats need a unique, distinctive take on values, and they need to go on the attack. First of all, they must neutralize the conservative "values" juggernaut by pointing out that conservative leaders are hypocrites. Republican claims are rendered obscene by Republican deeds. Here, allow the camera to sweep across a heartland panorama, with all its shuttered downtowns, cleaned-out farmers, retirees euchred by Enron, and cops beating strikers. Don't talk to us about humility when you're deregulating the electricity industry, accepting the boodle from Merrill Lynch, and feeding the population of this country into the maw of Archer Daniels Midland.
Second, focus on the values that Democrats have a natural claim to: security, equality, solidarity. Liberalism is capable of delivering a society where the gap between rich and poor, management and labor, isn't so vast. It's capable of giving us a world where people aren't constantly menaced by the shadow of poverty and disease. Where everyone has a right to healthcare, to an education, and to a job. Where Americans are one people, looking out for one another, not constantly at each other's throats. These are values that resonate powerfully with Americans, even those who live in red states, and they have the virtue of being values that are linked to action. They aren't just about the way you talk and the way you pray and the kind of car you drive -- they are about what you do.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
I think the Democrats are already in much better shape than the Republicans in terms of values. In fact, I'd say the Republicans are the party of instant gratification: Give yourself a big tax cut now, forget about the deficit. Use up every drop of resources now, forget about conservation. Try to be as comfortable as you want, forget about global warming. In contrast, I think Democrats excel in the values of prudence and managing the country not just for their own gratification but for those who will come after them.
The Democrats' values are the ones that Hubert Humphrey talked about: how government should be worried about the poor, the elderly, the disabled. I think it's a question of values as to whether the richest nation in the history of the world allows people to be, through no fault of their own, hungry and suffering from homelessness -- an issue Kerry, Edwards and the Democratic Party need to talk about.
The Democratic message needs to be that we represent the most important values of the American people -- and I don't think we should agree with the implicit notion that equates values with a particular form of sexual behavior. When the Bush administration talks about values, to them it means sexual abstinence and no cursing -- except on the Senate floor. But in terms of personal morality, one of the strongest values in America is privacy. People shouldn't have to check with Tom DeLay before they go out on a date.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle professor at Harvard Business School, Harvard University
The values that count are the ones that improve prosperity. Kerry should remind voters about the foundations of American resilience and job creation: open markets, borders and minds. Openness is not only a great value at this time of corporate sinning and presidential obfuscations but is also smart economics.
When it really comes down to it, the values that interest most Americans have dollar signs attached to them: a good life for their families, opportunities for advancement, freedom from financial worries. John Kerry should show he cares about people's aspirations even more than their values.
The term "values" is often a code word for faith. In one of the most religious countries on earth, Kerry is right to stress that he is guided by moral principles and troubled by moral dilemmas. His war record shows a lifelong commitment to character and discipline that distinguishes him from a youthful sinner born-again president who didn't serve. But campaigning as the morals candidate would be a risky distraction from pocketbook concerns.
The basic faith all Americans want is faith in the future of our way of life. Bush policies jeopardize that future: continuing high costs of a tar baby of a war in Iraq, a huge federal deficit that mortgages the future, brakes on scientific research that could save lives and create jobs, and failure to improve public education or reduce healthcare costs.
Kerry can express mainstream values through his economic policies, thereby getting a two-fer. He should stand with entrepreneurs touting the values of self-help and the virtues of hard work, while showing how much businesses can gain from enlightened trade policies, improvements in America's image in the world, and employees who feel more secure.
He should stand with white-collar professionals and manufacturing workers who fear job loss and show them a path to new jobs through innovation, along with a safety net to ease transitions onto that path.
Finally, he should stand with young people to show that his college funding plan will engage legions of youth in character-building national service, while making higher education more affordable and extending the American tradition of volunteerism.
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