By Matt Gewolb | April 24, 2006
In the days, weeks, and months following the 2004 November elections, “values” seemed an almost inescapable term. Democratic losses, we were told, were largely the product of voters who felt that Democrats no longer understood and shared their values. In a related electoral trend, the tremendous G.O.P. voter turnout was seen as largely driven by ballot measures in several states proposing bans on gay marriage and addressing various other traditionally conservative areas of social policy. The media, political pundits, and anyone else with a microphone or blog, seem determined to drum the “values” storyline into our collective American consciousness.
As it turns out, much of this analysis was wrong — comprising hastily reached conclusions in order to explain the electoral debacle that had just unfolded. Still, it does indeed seem that the so-called “hot-button” social issues have an increasing influence on voters. And, if that’s the case, then for Democratic candidates to be successful nationally and in the red states, they must inject healthy doses of traditionally conservative values into their campaign agendas. Right?
Wrong. Democrats don’t need to campaign on social conservative platforms to be successful outside of the coasts. What’s going on here is not the seismic shift towards social conservatism in this country that some commentators have suggested. What we’re really seeing are large groups of working-class voters grasping for something that they feel they might actually be able to control. Put another way, ordinary Americans in the heartland and elsewhere are experiencing tremendous economic uncertainty. G.O.P. policies are exporting good American jobs almost as quickly we’re importing foreign oil. And colossal Congressional and Bush administration failures in tackling our nation’s growing healthcare crisis coupled with an education policy that is failing miserably have left American workers at their most vulnerable in years.
Democrats often complain that Americans out in the heartland casting votes for George W. Bush and Republicans are acting foolishly and blatantly against their self-interest. After all, since Democrats are consistently better on core domestic issues like jobs, education, and healthcare, workers in the agricultural and industrial sectors struggling to make ends meet ought to realize that Democratic proposals on the so-called “kitchen table issues” will leave them better off.
But Democrats have failed to successfully articulate innovative policy ideas that will make the average American better off.
And so people grab hold of the issues over which they feel they can exercise some degree of control. Can’t be sure if your job at the plant will still be there come Christmas? Well, at least you can make your voice heard on a gay marriage amendment. Don’t quite know if prescription drugs and preventative health care for the kids fits into the budget this month? At least you can vote your conscience on abortion notification for minors.
Are some of these voters hard-line social conservatives? Sure. But it would be foolish to think that a voter would continue to support the G.O.P.’s candidates and social agenda if presented with an attractive Democratic alternative addressing job security and health care. The average person cares much more about whether they can count on next week’s paycheck than they do about what Bob and Tom are doing in private in the house next door. I’m not suggesting that candidates should shy away from talking about values, faith, and morality. But that’s not nearly enough. Democrats need to start talking about how they’re going to protect American workers and improve the lives of working-class families. Those are our Democratic values and it’s time we started telling the country about them.
Matt Gewolb is a political strategist and a partner with Beacon Public Affairs in Atlanta. He currently serves as an advisor to Democrats in the Georgia Senate and to several prominent political campaigns. He can be reached at mgewolb@beaconpa.com.
