In Search of a Democratic Future

Faced with a credible candidate and a bad economy, Democrats lost the recall because they failed to articulate – while governing and while campaigning – their central political belief that government is a social good, that investments in schools, infrastructure, health care, and social services are worth making, and that everyone should pay their fair share.

From the perspective of public opinion, the Democratic economic agenda is in fact quite popular with voters. The problem is that, for at least the last decade, Democrats have effectively abandoned a coherent or consistent articulation of that agenda while Republicans have continued to hammer away at the voting public with a disciplined message about the perils of "big government."

Now, in defeat, Democrats have the chance to put forward new and compelling ideas about the role of government and how it can better our lives.