CAMPAIGN 2004: SIX THINGS JOHN KERRY NEEDS TO DO TO WIN IN NOVEMBER
By Arianna Huffington
Dear Senator Kerry,
Congratulations on becoming the de facto nominee. Now the White House
is
gunning for you and party hacks are deafening you with advice. Take a
deep
breath and tune them out. Here is a simple six-point plan for becoming
the
44th president of the United States.
One. You may share JFK's initials, but you need to campaign with RFK's
passion. The night Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, you were on a ship
coming home from Vietnam. And you have often talked about his legacy on
the campaign trail, about politics as something more than "the art of
the
probable — tinkering around the edges without any greater vision."
Ushering Bush out of the White House will take more than a critique,
however masterful, of his failed policies — and more than a
new-and-improved Medicare plan. It will take a bold moral vision of
what
America can be. As Bobby Kennedy often said, "Some men see things as
they
are and ask, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and ask, 'Why
not?'"
Two. Don't pick a VP by looking at the map. Pick someone who can help
you
bring soul back to American politics and appeal not just to our
self-interest but to our better instincts. In other words, do not pick
Evan Bayh.
Three. Don't fall back on the tried-and-untrue swing voter strategy
that
has led to the prolonged identity crisis of the Democratic Party. Fifty
percent of eligible voters did not vote in 2000. Speak to them — to the
young, to the poor, to single women. Speak to those who have given up
on
our democracy, who are struggling without health care, without decent
schools, without jobs. The dithering poltroons offering you focus
group-tested advice on how to triangulate your way to victory won't
like
it. But you'll feel better about yourself, and you'll win.
Four. Don't run away from your voting record. Don't run away, as you
did
in the New York debate, from being called a liberal. Embrace it, and
define it as the foundation of the great breakthroughs in American
history. The Emancipation Proclamation. The 19th Amendment, giving
women
the right to vote. The New Deal, which put ordinary people back to work
when the private sector couldn't. Social Security. Medicare. The Voting
Rights Act of 1965. The Clean Air Act of 1970. The Occupational Safety
and
Health Act of 1970. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These
are
all milestones in our journey toward a just society. They all represent
values — liberal values — held dear by most Americans. You can be the
president who leads us to the next breakthrough after years of
consolidation, stagnation and — under George Bush — regression.
Five. Remember: He who controls the language defines the political
debate.
Bush Republicans' control of certain magical words, starting with
"responsibility," has been a key to their success. You need to take
back
"responsibility" from the grossly irresponsible GOP. It wants the
nation
to believe we can carry the burden of a worldwide war on terror and the
Iraqi occupation while giving the top hats a multitrillion dollar tax
cut
and the drug companies a huge new prescription drug benefit without
cost
containment. We can't, of course, and you need to make sure Americans
realize that before they vote in November.
Six. Strike a new bargain with the American people. Tell them, "Let's
put
an end to the tyranny of low expectations. You can expect a lot more of
me, and I will ask a lot more of you." President Bush has used Sept. 11
to
divide us — and as a handy visual for his new campaign ads. Imagine how
different our country would be if he had used it instead to call on the
American people not to go shopping but to commit themselves to a large,
collective purpose. Believe in us enough to ask us to confront both the
horrors wrought by terrorists and the horrors wrought by random
violence
in our inner cities, and by woefully inadequate health care, education
and
housing. Believe in us enough to ask us to share in the sacrifices
necessary to build a country of real opportunity for all and a sturdy
social safety net. The values and spirit that emerged on Sept. 11 —
generosity, selflessness, courage — are still very much part of who we
are. After years of being pandered to and lied to, we are longing for a
leader who will speak straight to us and challenge us to live up to
those
intangible qualities that make our nation great.
You can be that leader, but only if you ignore all those who tell you
that's not the way you win elections. Indeed, that's the only way
you'll
win this one.
© 2004 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.
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