Whether we like it or not, modern American politics has become something of a team sport. I consider myself a liberal and a Democrat, so I've come up with three relatively simple guidelines that I think my team should start thinking about to make ourselves more effective.
1. Engage with conservatives, in person and in print.
I've heard a lot of liberal students in my classes blow off conservatives by saying "I just don't understand where these people are coming from." That's unacceptable.
For liberals to truly be informed, we must occasionally put down our copies of the Nation and the New York Times' opinions page and pick up the National Review or the American Spectator. Their Web sites are overflowing with information (or disinformation, as the case may be), and Fox News is only a click away on your remote control. It's easy to get information about what the other side is thinking, to actually wrestle with their points of view.
We absolutely must do so.
Also, we should be jumping at every opportunity to have open and respectful debate with our conservative friends. If you don't have conservative friends, make them. Seriously, they won't shoot you in the face or anything. Don't blow off their points of view as racist, dumb, neo-imperialist, etc. Figure out where their argument is coming from and what it's based on. If we don't understand their perspective, we can't confront it. And we'll get our asses kicked.
2. Pick and choose your battles.
There are some in the Democratic Party (including former President Bill Clinton) who believed during the last election cycle that the Democrats should have turned their back on the gay community even more than they did. Clinton even suggested that John Kerry back some of the state initiatives against gay marriage.
To his credit, Kerry refused. Backing those initiatives might have helped him (though I personally don't think so), but some things are worth fighting over.
Now let's jump to February 2005, when Jada Pinkett Smith visited Harvard and declared, "Women, you can have it all - a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career." Admittedly, her comments were, as the Harvard BGLTSA put it, "heteronormative." But the decision of the BGLTSA to turn it into a national issue is absurd and self-defeating. Most people can understand that Pinkett was trying to be empowering and encouraging.
By deriding her for such basically harmless comments, liberals alienate communities that might otherwise be willing to budge on more important queer rights issues. Kerry understood which battle was important to fight; the Harvard BGLTSA did not.
The contrast betrays flaws in liberal politics on both a national and grass-roots level: Nationally, Dems tend not to do what Kerry did and take a stand on an important issue. From the grass-roots perspective, liberals tend to want to take a stand on everything, when we might be better served to focus on a few, weightier battles.
3. Open up our team.
After the recent death of Pope John Paul II, liberals and conservatives both tried to claim a piece of his legacy. Liberals pointed out his opposition to the Iraq war, diplomatic multilateralism and hard line against poverty. Conservatives highlighted his stances on cultural issues. And that debate made me wonder whether the late Pope would have chosen to be a Democrat or Republican if he were resitering to vote in the United States.
I'm still not sure what the answer to that quandry would be, but I know what it should be: Democrat. We need to be willing to embrace people who hold our basic beliefs in peace, equality and opportunity, even if they differ from us on specific issues. Those at the top of our party are starting to recognize this reality, as was evident in the selection of anti-choice Democrat Harry Reid for Senate Minority Leader.
Still, we on the grass-roots level are too quick to reject someone based on individual policy views. I often find us clinging to issues that divide liberals rather than those around which we can rally together. Can you imagine an anti-choice leader for the Brown Democrats? Or one who supported school vouchers? I myself am pro-choice and uneasy about vouchers, but I wouldn't want to unnecessarily blow off potential allies just because I disagree with them on one issue.
In short, I don't believe that Democrats need to be "more liberal" or "more conservative," as many talking heads would argue on CNN. I think we need to make it easier to join our team. And as that team starts growing (and it will grow!), we need to remember to choose our battles wisely and learn what our oponents have to say. If we start there, we might just end up winning.
Joel Silberman '05 plans to be the Washington Redskins' first ever 120-pound linebacker.
