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August 18, 2005

The importance of being honest

If you've ever bothered to check my PK bio, you'll note that I'm not a registered Democrat. I'm registered as "non affiliated". Kevin gleefully pokes at me over this, knowing that it's not an oversight on my part. He likes to think of this lack of affiliation as an "inner Indy" crying to get out from under my Democratic leaning tendencies.

In reality I haven't registered as a Democrat for a couple of reasons.

1. I thought (stupidly) at the time I registered that if I wasn't affiliated the parties wouldn't solicit me. In hindsight that was an immense brain fart. Now I'm an equal opportunity target.

2. The Democrats piss me off just enough to keep me from expending the necessary energy to haul my ass down to the county seat. Perhaps this is part of the inner Indy. But it's also a larger issue that I think is worth addressing.

A lot of Democrats have trouble wrapping their brains around the practice of being straight forward.

Witness the squeamish response to Cindy Sheehan by some in the Democratic quarter. Agree or disagree with her motives, Sheehan has put herself out there, straight shooting from the hip. Her candor is the root of her appeal. Yet there are a dearth of the regular democratic opportunists at Camp Casey. Those who like tend to show up for face time are strangely missing.

It's as if honesty is a communicable disease that could rub off and send them down the road to eternal decency.

There are obvious exceptions. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold seems to have made peace with his inner honest guy. He not only speaks up as an honest broker, he consistently gives off the impression of being forthright. It's more than just an occasional brush with truth.

Part of George W. Bush's appeal is that some think he believes in what he's doing. (There are more than a few who think he's lied his ass off about a lot of policy issues. I'm not in a position to argue with them, because quite frankly I agree.) But it's quite clear than many think that Bush exudes honesty. That he offers a straight arrow moral leadership which doesn't waver.

It's that "not wavering" part that gives Bush his greatest appeal, in my view. Whether or not Bush really buys his own schtick is an unwinnable argument unless we can crawl inside his cranium (scary) and make that determination. Bush pulls off the hubrisly afflicted bravado because he comes across to many (and until recently the majority) as a truthful, folksy guy. He looks like he's standing up for what he believes in.

A lot of Democrats don't do that. They try to adopt Republican talking points or push to the right for short term political gain. As if abandoning abortion rights will all of a sudden make voters beat a path to the Democratic door. Or if Dems would only take take Yglesias' advice and wax esoteric about Intelligent Design. Or pander for votes like my Congressman (David Wu-Oregon) did by voting for the heinous bankruptcy bill.

All of this comes across as completely dishonest to me. David Wu is a progressive who votes to make it harder for those in financial trouble to file for bankruptcy..without first demanding legislation on predatory lending practices...? No. And if this were his only nonprogressive voting act I wouldn't have a gripe, most likely. But it isn't.

If Democrats want to win they have to stop pandering and start standing up for their progressive values. There's no reason to vote for a Democrat who plays a Republican on the voting floor. People don't want a great pretender. They want someone who at least attempts to be an honest broker and a straight forward leader.

Posted by Carla at August 18, 2005 10:55 AM