The Collapse Of Bushism
DLC's New BLUEPRINT Offers a Positive Vision for Democrats in 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: Karin Kullman Freedman/John Bray
(202) 546-0007 / (800) 546-0027
WASHINGTON, D.C.
In December 1991, after the first President Bush's victory in Iraq, the DLC predicted the "collapse of Bushism" on the cover of The New Democrat, the predecessor publication of Blueprint. This month, in an article called "The Son Also Falls," From and Reed say that Bushism is collapsing again. The DLC leaders write that the Bush administration has left the middle class behind, saddling families with record increases in college tuition, health care, and the deficit, stagnant incomes, and a greater share of the tax burden, and explain that the best chance for a Democrat to win the nomination and the presidency is to offer a compelling vision to save the middle class. From and Reed outline their own vision for America, including an opportunity agenda that makes college, health care, and the tools to get ahead available to those willing to work, and an economic and tax plan that gives the middle class and working poor the chance to prosper, not make them sacrifice their dreams so that America can become the world's largest tax shelter for the rich.
"Bush could still survive if we let him put us back in that old liberal stereotype and fail to offer a compelling new vision of our own," From and Reed conclude. "If we tell the American people exactly what we'll do for the country, and what we'll ask of them, the 2004 election is no longer Bush's to lose. It's Democrats' to win."
Other articles in the just released issue of Blueprint:
- "The National Security Case Against George W. Bush," by Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI): With shaken public confidence in Team Bush's ability to make Americans safer after a string of recent White House fumbles from Iraq to North Korea, it's up to Democrats to step into the breach and offer a compelling foreign policy alternative. "Criticism alone won't allay lingering public doubts about Democrats' toughness and resolve when it comes to waging the war on terrorism or finishing the job in Iraq," Marshall writes. Instead, he advocates for "progressive internationalism"
-- a strategy that updates the party's historic support for a strong defense and tough-minded diplomacy while engaging with our allies to advance liberal democracy abroad. - "Job Killer," by Robert D. Atkinson, vice president of PPI and director of its Technology and New Economy Project: The hemorrhaging of U.S. factory jobs on George W. Bush's watch is fast becoming a hot political issue for the 2004 elections. Yet the policies of the Bush administration have been largely counterproductive: failed protectionist schemes, cuts in job training, and increased deficits due to huge tax cuts for the wealthy. According to Atkinson, Democrats should offer a new, forward-looking manufacturing vision that realistically addresses the sector's woes, including: creating a new manufacturing technology agenda; ensuring that the prices of domestic and foreign currencies reflect trade imbalances; and giving displaced manufacturing workers the tools they need to transition into new jobs if necessary.
- "A Squandered Opportunity," by Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution: When President Bush came into the White House, he was faced with two choices: stop the Palestinian intifadah before it destroyed the Clinton administration's framework for peace; or remain disengaged and allow the framework to be dismantled. Convinced that Clinton-era peace efforts had been feckless, even stupid, the Bush team refused to reengage as hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians died, and then failed to seize the opportunity presented after the toppling of Saddam to provide the support necessary for a successful implementation of the Middle East Road Map, according to Indyk. "There is an old maxim about the Middle East peace process: It's like a bicycle. If you're not pedaling forward you will fall off," Indyk writes.
- "Unprepared and Mad as Hell," by Harry Siegel, freelance writer based in New York City: New York City firefighters took a horrible hit on 9/11, losing 343 lives and more than 4,000 collective years of experience, and two years later they feel they're worse off than before the World Trade Center came down. Siegel reports that critical problems such as lack of a central command center, radio boosters, and insufficient training for catastrophic emergencies continue to plague FDNY. The city's leadership, abetted by a stingy Republican administration in Washington, has put its head in the sand, treating first responders like any other stressed line item in a year of budgetary woes.
- "Members Only," by Randolph Court, senior editor of Blueprint: Caucuses like Iowa's magnify the influence of party activists, exclude too many voters, and tilt toward politicians with slim hopes in national contests. According to Court, the growing movement of state Democratic parties away from primaries and toward caucuses is bad news, both for Democrats and for democracy. "Using unrepresentative samples of party activists is exactly the wrong way to pick national standard bearers," Court writes. The time has come for the party to take a hard look at its delegate selection process if it wants to have the best possible shot at winning back the White House.
- "Zell Bent," by Ed Kilgore, policy director of the DLC and senior editor of Blueprint: Kilgore, a former Zell Miller staffer, examines the Georgia senator's new book, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," and recent estrangement from his Democratic past. According to Kilgore, Miller doesn't really hate the Democratic Party, but rather is angry at the cynical, elitist Washington political culture
-- anger he now wrongly directs at the Democratic Party. "His anger has bent him against the real truth, and driven him into the arms of people with little but contempt for his old-fashioned Democratic values," Kilgore writes.
Blueprint: Ideas for the New Century is the flagship policy journal of the Democratic Leadership Council. Media wishing to speak to any of the Blueprint authors may contact the DLC's communications office at (202) 546-0007 or (800) 546-0027. For more information on Blueprint or to view the latest edition, Web users may visit the Blueprint Web site at www.ndol.org/blueprint.