Inserting Message of Values into Campaign

To: Howard Dean, Chair, Democratic National Committee

The fly in the ointment of current Bush Administration and GOP disarray, and Democratic successes in the off-year election, is that media attention has focused on the theme -- promoted by GOP talking points -- that "Democrats have no message." What the media really means is that we don't all parrot a handful of soundbites. While continuing to develop our themes as a party, we need to counter that spin. The way to do that is to shift the question from "message" to values.

Democrats go into the 2006 midterm election cycle in a vastly stronger position than could have been imagined in the wake of the 2004 elections. President Bush, who crowed about his "political capital" after his narrow re-election, saw his attempt to privatize Social Security sink without trace. Public opinion has turned against the war in Iraq. Bush's job approval has fallen below 40 percent in multiple polls.

The national GOP is enveloped in scandal, which in the White House touches both "Bush's brain," Karl Rove, and the traditional Republican strength issue of national security. The off-year elections saw Democratic gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and heavily-watched Virginia, and Arnold Schwarzeneggar's California special election was a debacle. Scarcely a news cycle passes without another GOP embarrassment.