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That's Soooo M.C.

by Josh Feit

All this self-reflection is fine, but if Democrats really want to challenge the Republicans, they've got to stop looking inward and start eyeballing their opponents--looking for vulnerabilities--so they can figure out ways to attack. Democrats can improve their message all they want, but without a strategy for attacking Republicans, they'll just be wasting time--not to mention a lot of money on consultants.

What's the first step? Identify the Rs' strength. It's a counterintuitive but effective strategy to go after an opponent's strength and turn it into a weakness. Example A: Karl Rove realized the Dems actually had a good candidate in John Kerry--a Democrat with war medals. Rove quickly made the election about the idea the Kerry was weak on national security--a seemingly risky move when you're going up against a decorated veteran. But Rove called the validity of Kerry's war medals into question, turning Kerry's biggest strength into his biggest weakness. (Remember the Swift Boat ads?) The Republicans forced Kerry to abandon his valorous story after having just wasted so much valuable time (the convention) establishing it.

So, the Dems should be asking: What's the Republicans' strength? Moral Values, obviously. Dems should go after it. And I don't mean reading from the same old lefty script that points out the amorality of tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the poor. That sort of economic critique is too wonky, and it obviously didn't work this year. No, there's a better way to attack the Rs on moral values. Pull the same number on the Republican superiority complex that conservatives pulled on the Dems in the '90s--a strategy that led to the Republican Revolution in 1994. The Dems' strength had long been their association with civil rights--standing up for the underdog: blacks, women, immigrants, gays. The Rs destroyed that D strength by seizing on two words: "Politically Correct." By painting PC as an annoying Democratic superiority complex that Dems preached on behalf of "Special Interests," the Rs turned the lefty civil-rights-based ideology into a synonym for "Holier than thou."

Well, sheesh, did someone say holier than thou? Whenever Bush justifies a war or a constitutional amendment as a reflection of his supposedly superior moral fortitude, Dems should groan loudly, "That's sooo Morally Correct." When the president prevents cancer patients from accessing stem-cell research or justifies a court appointment because of his stance on abortion, Dems should croon, "That's sooo MC"

By painting the Rs' "Moral Values" advantage as so much self-righteousness, the Democrats will turn the Rs' current strength into a glaring weakness. Why? Because Americans don't like being told what to do, especially when the person wagging his finger is forcing his own religion down your throat. Democrats should exploit this. The Bush litmus test--running policy through a moral-values test--will start to undermine the Republicans' position by making it look narrow-minded and dogmatic. Which, coincidentally, it is.