The struggle for relevance in modern American politics

As Democrats struggle to emerge from the debacle of the midterm elections, a consensus has emerged within the power structure of this country for the Republican agenda. It is not merely a misfortune that Republicans have gained control — their resurgence threatens Democrats with irrelevance. But this must not happen. Republicans have identified many of the right problems and have proposed many of the wrong solutions. Worse, Republicans have managed to convince America that their solutions are the best and only solutions to our current problems. Below are my suggested strategies for uprooting the Republican quasi-mandate and reinvigorating the Democratic Party.

First suggestion: Because foreign policy dominates politics, it should not be exempt from politics. Republicans understand this. The Bush administration established a political office to analyze foreign intelligence because the CIA's analysis just didn't suit their agenda. Politics should not stop at the water's edge as long as Republicans have such a skewed view of international relations.

Democrats must explain that the narrow and simplistic rhetoric of Republicans (think: "axis of evil") reflects narrow and simplistic solutions (think: topple-the-Taliban-provide-security-for-Hamid-Karzai-and-get-the-hell-out-of-Afghanistan). Now that our country seems irreversibly on a path to war, Democrats should start by proposing a longterm strategy of how to meet the budgetary and political demands of our goals in post-Saddam Iraq. Democrats must address the longterm, substantive issues of conquest and nation-building that Republicans would prefer to ignore. Democrats must reject easy solutions to tough problems — they must be "idealists without illusions," as Jacqueline Kennedy once described her husband, President Kennedy.

Second suggestion: Class is an issue, so Democrats should not be afraid to make it one. Whether the topic is "permanent" tax cuts, accounting industry reform and corporate responsibility, energy policy or economic recovery, Republicans are making the rich richer at the expense of the poor — and just as often, at the expense of the national interest. And Republicans have astonishingly managed to de-link their tax cuts from the two-front war our country seems ready to start. Democrats must not allow Republicans to get away with this. Democrats must exploit the class issue because it exists and will resonate well with a population that feels increasingly disenfranchised. And Democrats should attack the administration for waging a war that is irresponsible — at least fiscally irresponsible — because the administration will not commit the resources necessary to achieve its aims.

The foreign policy questions facing our country represent a chance to remake the world — and our role in the world. The domestic policy questions facing our country challenge our most fundamental rights and liberties. And Democrats spend their time talking about social security and prescription drugs? Republicans like to portray themselves as hard-nosed Realists — but this is misleading because their Realism is incomplete. Democrats must be Committed Realists — like Republicans, they must recognize the new threats to our country, but unlike Republicans, they must be willing to do what it takes to ensure that our response to those threats will be prudent and lasting.

And my third suggestion: highlight "the vision thing." This is the one that makes centrist-happy Democrats uncomfortable. Republicans say the times have changed, that we need new ideas and new strategies to confront new threats. And Republicans are full of ideas about how to do this — bad ideas, and they've got lots of them. The Bush administration sees a world where the will of the United States, as the most powerful actor, should come first globally. This is the Bush administration's vision, its strategy for a post-Sept. 11 world. But it is probably not the wisest strategy — and definitely not the only one.

It is the responsibility of Democrats to propose ways of engaging the world on issues (from the environment to international courts of law) that are important to the rest of the world, and also to ensure that our security interests are met as well — because Republicans seem far less concerned with the former. It is the responsibility of Democrats to propose ways to balance the necessities of protecting our lives and protecting our way of life — because Republicans seem far less concerned with the latter.

By politicizing our country's war plans and exposing the short-term approach of the administration, by exploiting "class" issues and attacking Republicans' egregious domestic policy record and by asking Americans to think about whether the world we are creating is a world we want to live in, Democrats will breathe life into their role as a productive and relevant force in politics — which is something they very much need to do. Adam Frankel is a Wilson School major from N.Y.. N.Y. He can be reached at afrankel@princeton.edu.