Responsibility Over Values
So I saw something this morning that kinda pissed me off. I got an email
from the Democratic party asking me to sign a petition regarding Social
Security. While I was at the Democrats.org site I decided to take a look
around and saw a link called "Get Dem Gear."
Mostly kinda bland stuff; the "True Blue Democrat" items looked OK, but
I'd feel like a stooge wearing them. I'd rather they offer something that
offered a declaration of values that the Democratic party stands for. I
would say that the new line of posters they offer featuring a Joe
Camel-like donkey with lame ripoffs of popular marketing slogans was a
nice try, but I'd be lying.
Then I saw a bumper sticker they were selling as part of a "Democratic
Survival Kit." The bumper sticker says "Democrats Have Moral Values
Too." Does this enrage you like it does me? This is the reason, on
one bumper sticker, why we keep losing despite running against a party
which is staggeringly corrupt and incompetent in governance (they are
certainly not incompetent in running campaigns -- that, shamefully, is
our claim to fame). Well, alright, the problems actually run
deeper than just a bumper sticker, but this is certainly the most
emblematic symptom of the deeper problem that I have seen in a while.
Let's be clear on how and why this bumper sticker is wrong, wrong, wrong.
It accepts Republican framing of the issue. This slogan does
nothing to define "moral" or "values." And by adding the "too," it
makes crystal clear that it's trying to lay claim to the term as defined
by the enemy. It sounds whiny and false. I don't want the Democratic
party to be for "moral values" as defined by the Republican party. As a
matter of fact, that's exactly what I don't want. We need to reframe
"moral values" to reflect, well, actual moral values as opposed to
intolerance papered over with a veneer of public piety. Do not use the
term unless you are doing this!
If this can't be done on a bumper sticker, then don't do it. But I think
it can. Take, for example, this slightly tightened quote from (who else)
Howard Dean: "Democrats are the party of fiscal, economic, social,
civic, personal, and moral responsibility." A bit wordy, perhaps, but
a good start. It takes the hollow and passively judgemental "moral
values" and resculpts it across a broader range of issues, ending in
"moral responsibility," which is by contrast active and, well,
responsible. We don't just hold "values," we take "responsibility."
Of course, you could create a whole series of bumper stickers with each of
those areas of responsibility highlighted: "Democrats are the party of
fiscal responsibility." "Democrats are the party of personal
responsibility." And so on. You could even just boil it down to:
"Democrats are the party of responsibility." These statements are simple,
clear, affirmative, and they highlight in stark contrast the lack of
responsibility that is flapping in the wind on the other side of the
aisle.
11:06:34 AM 
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