It's that time again-- meaning now... (and in case you hadn't noticed, it's always now)
...when the Mainstream Media asks the crucial, tough, hard-hitting, probing investigative political questions that simply must be answered before the 2008 election, namely: "Who can woo the values voter?", "how can the Democrats reach out to the all-important values voter?", "Don't the Democrats realize that by supporting gay rights, reproductive freedom, and the separation of church and state they're alienating the all-important values voter?" "How does the values voter feel about being the most important constituency that the Democrats must invariably try, and most likely fail, to reach out to?" and perhaps most importantly, "what did the values voter have for lunch--- and how can the Democrats reach out to it?"
Those of you who are fortunate/unfortunate enough to know me or to have read some of my more extensive rants, particularly back when I had the time to put some genuine effort into this blog, know exactly where I stand on all this. But the condensed version of the important part, right here, is this: I think that the "conventional wisdom" about the all-powerful "values voter" is bullshit. I think it's exactly the kind of DLC, Bob Shrum, media-fed crap that has caused timidity in Democratic Candidates and has lost- lost, not won- us elections in the past. The GOP buys into it, too- which is why the whole Terri Schiavo thing bit them on the ass when they thought it was going to be a winner. They overestimated the power of the knuckle-dragger, creation museum, fundy vote, and underestimated the very powerful mind-your-own-damn-business streak that runs through the American electorate.
Were I to speak directly to a Democratic Party Pooh-bah, or a powerful strategist, this is what I would say: Stop bending over backwards to appease these mythical values voters. You want to appeal to the heartland, do it with real-world solutions to their real world problems. A SPHC system. A liveable minimum wage. Stop trying to out-Jesus the GOP because you're terrified they think all libruls "hate God". I'm not saying don't genuinely speak from your faith; I'm saying stop listening to the chowderheads who say we need to jettison the gays, the pro-choicers, the so-called atheist whackjob left, the defenders of the separation of church and state.
And the most important point I would tell my imaginary friend the Democratic Party Strategist? That there is a far larger, more powerful, and most importantly, more in play constituency than these alleged "values voters" perched between the parties, and they are, for lack of a better descriptor, what I would call non-aligned, educated, mostly professional and socially libertarian. The usually very funny and occasionally annoying Bill Maher on HBO is an excellent example. In fact, there is even a whole libertarian wing of the GOP that, while they may not agree with you on stuff like taxes, are completely pissed off that the theocratic nutjobs have taken over that party, and they understand that they're certainly not getting any "fiscal responsibility" from Mr. $400 Billion-dollar-Iraq-War.
We, as a party, need to REACH OUT--- not to "evangelicals" who are terrified of gay marriage, but to the millions upon millions of citizens who want the fucking religious busybodies OUT of their personal lives.
The millions of people who respect the First Amendment and think it's fine for kids to be taught about Genesis or led in organized prayer-- but in Sunday School, not Public School.
The millions upon millions who think it's absurd that we spend $40 Billion a year on a "drug war" aimed primarily at keeping consenting adults from smoking a relatively benign plant.
The millions who understand that if they get a painful or terminal illness, they want their doctor to be the one who is allowed to help with their decisions about pain management or even a pain-free exit on their own terms- not Bill Frist, DEA agents or televangelists.
But to reach these folks, our party needs to come out strong for an across-the-board personal freedom agenda. An agenda that says, really, what a consenting adult does with his or her own body on his or her own time, as long as he or she isn't harming anyone else, is that person's own business.
It's worth noting that perpetuating the "all powerful values voter" meme serves several functions for the Corporate media, not the least of which is that it allows them to avoid talking about actual pertinent issues while painting the Democrats as out of touch with the common folk. Of course, they've blamed the Democratic Party's supposed inability to speak the plain language of the god-fearing plainspeople for several election defeats, notably 2000 and 2004.
And speaking of those elections, it's interesting that in the middle of their current Christgasm they don't seem to want to spend much time on what I think is the most important story you're not hearing a thing about, namely GOP Vote Caging-- and how it pertains to Monica Goodling and the DOJ scandal:
Well, Monica Goodling, graduate of Pat Robertson U-- the one who based some of her personnel decisions on important professional criteria like marital fidelity; yeah, she probably could be described as a "values voter". It's pretty safe to say she's probably against, for instance, gay marriage, Roe v. Wade, and for all we know she may support criminalizing contraception, blasphemy and extra-marital sex as well. If Bush and the GOP staffed various levels of the Federal and State governments with folks like that, and they pulled the election-manipulating shenanigans that have been alleged and may be coming to light, then I guess it could be argued that, in a sense, "values voters" were responsible for the GOP's electoral success, for instance, in 2004.
As in, well-placed values voters to help steal elections.
Still, I would think that would be a more important story for the Mainstream Media than whether or not the Democratic Front-Runners seem like they "know the psalms".
