OxBlog

# Posted 6:50 PM by Ariel David Adesnik

OXBLOG REWRITES THE DEMOCRATIC SCRIPT: Kevin Drum thinks I'm being too hard on the Democrats. He writes:

I'm not above the occasional criticism of Democratic foreign policy myself, but I wonder just what people like David are expecting? Some kind of lockstep agreement about the mathematical formula we're going to use to decide on foreign interventions? A bulleted PowerPoint slide signed in blood by every top Democrat in the country?

Fair is fair. If I'm going to bash the Dems for being all over the map on foreign policy, I should be able to do better myself. So here goes. These are the talking points that every big Democratic speaker should hit:

1. The Democratic party is the party of strength and idealism.

Although sans definition, 'strength' has become a Democratic mantra. But even Jimmy Carter was too timid to talk about idealism. For the party of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy, that's sad. Now's lets talk about Iraq in a way that gives some substance to my emphasis on strength and idealism.

2. Four years ago, George Bush accused us of running the US military into the ground. But now recklessness has stretched our military -- and especially the National Guard -- to its breaking point.

3. George Bush talks tough but won't make the commitments necessary to win the war on terror. Instead of wasting money on missile defense or yet another jet figher, a Democratic administration would invest in America's most important military asset: its soldiers.

3a. We will expand the military by 150,000 men so that we can win the war in Iraq instead of sending our soldiers into battle without the support they need.

3b. This expansion will also make America strong enough to face down crises in the Korean peninsula and elsewhere that George Bush has created.

3c. George Bush always does more for the rich than he does for the hard-working middle class. Thus it comes as no surprise that he has ignored the military families who are sacrificing so much to help us win the war on terror.

Swing voters still suspect that the Democratic party of today is the dovish party of the 70's. By talking so much about alliances and reputation, what Democrats are basically doing is saying that the most important thing for the United States is to let other nations rein in its power.

That's a valid point, but if its the only one the Democrats make they will come across as being the same old doves who criticize America before criticizing others. Now, I'm all for self-criticism and for nuance and for all those good things that the Republicans have in short supply. But when it comes to winning elections, the Democrats have to do more than talk about "strength" and hope that the American public will fall for it.