No confidence in Dems new strategy

U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., sent me an e-mail this morning asking me to "demand a vote of no confidence in Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld." OK, so it was a mass e-mail from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

I'm sure Emanuel doesn't have me in his personal e-mail address list. But maybe he should because once again the Democrats are floundering in their attempts to become effective.

"It is clear now that abiding by Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary is simply untenable, and that another two years of his tenure will bring even greater regrets and disaster than the last six. That is why House Democrats are demanding a vote of No-Confidence in Rumsfeld to signify that we need a new direction in Iraq," the Congressman from Chicago writes.

Emanuel points out his disgust with Rumsfeld "thinking about the midterm elections" and declaring "that any who supported a new direction in Iraq -- including a large majority of the American people apparently -- were suffering from "moral or intellectual confusion" equivalent to Nazi appeasers."

Ignoring the irony of this administration's similarity to the Nazi regime and its use of Goebbels-like propaganda techniques, attacking Rumsfeld has already been proven to be a losing strategy and really doesn't get to the heart of the concerns of most Americans.

Running on the "we're-an-alternative-because-we're-not-them" plank isn't going to electrify your base or attract swing voters no matter what party uses it. The Republicans tried it for years before coming up with the "Contract with America" a hollow platform that at least offered something Americans could see as an alternative.

The Democrats continue to flounder because they can't find a unifying position over the mess in Iraq. Hawkish and pragmatic Dems want to stay the course at least for a little while. The more lefty Dems want immediate or time certain withdrawal. Neither position offers much of a rallying cry. "Hey we know they screwed the pooch with Iraq, so we're going to have to stay there" vs. "They screwed the pooch with Iraq, so we gotta get out of there" isn't much as a position.

What the Democrats need to do is return to their own base, to remind Americans of a time when working for a living meant security, when being an American meant religion was a private matter and sexuality wasn't a political football. To remind Americans when there was dignity in being concerned for your neighbor’s well being, when self-sacrifice was the way of the nation. To remind Americans that peace and justice do not involve secret prisons and airport searches, when safety wasn't an excuse for negating the Constitution.

When was the last time any Democrat spoke like that? When was the last time Democratic vision was based on heartfelt beliefs not opinion polls? There are far more things that make all of us alike than there are that make us different, yet the Democrats continue to divide us into categories and classes.

That's the e-mail I'd welcome from Emanuel, that's the position that will ensure the Democratic return to majority.