I have a lot of friends and family who are Bush partisans. Some are wingnut extremists, others are old-school Teddy Roosevelt conservatives who have lost their way, having been seduced by the terrorist-obsessed Christo-fascist noise machine.
In fact, a LOT of them are Teddy Roosevelt conservatives. And in that context, I don't think "conservative" is something the average American need fear.
What I find striking is how much these people have IN COMMON with my progressive friends and me. But for some reason we can't get on the same page. My frustration with the Democrats has been: why can't they engage these people? Sure, they have many conservative values, but some conservative values are also progressive values.
Kos is right: the Democratic Party needs a facelift, and his theory of the "Libertarian Democrat," I think, is spot on.
It's easy to blame the wingnut noise-machine for how effectively the Republicans have killed the Democratic brand. But my God, those Teddy Roosevelt conservatives, by and large, actually suspect ALL liberals of being Godless Stalinists who want to band together to form an American Khmer Rouge!
Sure the wingnut noise-machine played/plays a HUGE part, but to what extent did/does the absence of a progressive noise-machine simply make matters worse? Nobody, regradless of shared values, likes people who "lay down and take it." And this is what the Democrats, exemplified by tree stumps like Hillary and Lieberman, think is a good strategy.
Ann Coulter publishes "Godless: The Chruch of Liberalism." And there is no progressive counter-measure. Just deafening silence. Where is the book "Godless: Ann Coulter?" Americans don't by Coulter's book because of the subtitle [The Church of Liberalism], they buy it for the simple word "Godless." You have to fight fire with fire, and you can't slay Goliath if you have no David.
The Libertarian Democrat will be our David.
Hillary supporting a flag-burning ammendment is just plain ridiculous. Doesn't she get it? This is EXACTLY what the wingnuts want: Democrats who think "maybe if I act like a Republican, more conservative voters will consider me." IT HAS THE EXACT OPPOSITE EFFECT! The more a Democrat looks like a Republican, the more a Democrat makes him/herself invisible to the voter and the voter votes Republican. What we need are Democrats with progressive values who SEEM to be conservative where it counts. This is BRANDING, people. And brand-recognition is POWER.
The Libertarian Democrat will be our new brand. A brand that turns the table and makes moderate Republicans look like Democrats, not the other way around.
A Libertarian Democrat might look something like this:
When a wingnut like Ann Coulter screams "liberals are Godless!," instead of deafening silence, the Libertarian Democrat stands up and speaks loudly: "We stand for Americans' FREEDOM to worship God the way THEY want, not just Ann Coulter's way. And by the way, what are your religious beliefs, Ann?"
When a wingnut like Bill O'Rielly screams "liberals are soft on national defense!," the Libertarian Democrat stands up and says: "We stand for SMART defense as well as strong defense, which makes STRONGER defense. And by the way, when did you serve, Bill?"
When a wingnut like Tucker Carlson jibes that "liberals want big government to control your life," the Libertarian Democrat proudly states "We're not for just big government OR just small government, we're for SMART government. Smart government is big and powerful on national defense, education and healthcare. Smart government is small and limited with regard to it's power over your life, property and privacy. And by the way Tucker, do you really think the government ought to be telling you that you can't smoke pot? isn't that your parents' job?"
When Dr. James Dobson screams "liberals want to kill babies!," the Libertarian Democrat will fight back and say "That, my friend, is RIDICULOUS. We believe that a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy (or not) is strictly PRIVATE business. We hope it never happens and want to educate people so unwanted pregnancies don't occur in the first place. And by the way Jim, if my wife or sister or friend ever needed to terminate her pregnancy: 1) it's none of your fucking business why and 2) if you stood in their way, I'd knock your teeth out. So stay out of my private business, brother."
The point is, right now wingnuts don't have to answer questions or deal with progressive PASSION. Rather, they've cornered the market on asking Democrats and the American people rhetorical questions that construct negative generalizations about liberals and don't solve any problem other than the wingnut NEED to control discourse.
The Libertarian Democrat will take back public discourse in this country by going on offense instead of constantly playing defense.
The Libertarian Democrat will not simply offer up rhetoric designed to paralyze wingnuttery, he/she will problem solve, speak loudly while doing so and resurrect the progressive brand that has built this awesome country we call America.
The Libertarian Democrat will not simply try to win votes via strategy and positioning (um, Hillary), he/she will stand up, win hearts and THEREBY win votes. The Libertarian Democrat will EARN votes by winning hearts.
I look forward to Kos' book on the subject.
And as far as I'm concerned, I'm a Libertarian Democrat already. many of my friends feel the same way. It's enabling us to have real conversations with those Teddy Roosevelt conservatives, and we're starting to see eye to eye.
Will you join us?