Ok, don’t hurt anyone on my account. But the entire Democratic operative class needs to be fired. I use operative loosely: pundits, pollsters, campaign advisors, speech writers and handlers. These guys just can’t seem to run a campaign worth a damn:

1) there’s no long term strategy or planning
2) their counter-spin is often feeble and too late (Swift Boats, anyone?)
3) how can one be successful in politics when, ultimately, one’s view of the public is so crass and disdainful?

Believe it or not, these aren’t the major problems, relatively speaking. Fundamentally, the Democratic operative class is unable to speak about issues with moral certitude. Often, an issue will be either described in wonky terms (“good policy”) or invoke families in some half-assed whiny way (let’s not even consider crass cynicism). Let’s take the minimum wage. How hard would it be for Democrat to say with conviction, “If you’re a single parent with two kids who works 40 hours a week, 50 weeks per years, the government -[dramatic pause]-the American people will make sure that you are not officially poor. There is right and there is wrong. Supporting a real wage is right. It is just. Opposing it is wrong. That is immoral.” Not “unfair” or “anti-family”, wrong.

Most Democrats seem unable to summon any righteous indignation whatsoever. I think a good deal of this stems from an utter disconection from and inexperience with religion. They feel uncomfortable with any sort of moralizing. (Clinton actually chewed out some of his speech writers for their unfamiliarity with religious cadence.) If there were ever a Democratic speech writers school, the books of Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah should be front and center (I would also add Camus’ Resistance, Rebellion, and Death; righteous indignation doesn’t have to be religious).

Consider this: among most Democratic intellgentsia, moralizing is considered to be a bad thing. But aren’t morals good things?