From an ideological and historical viewpoint, Democrats have championed the cause of the disenfranchised and disadvantaged. Minorities, women and homosexuals have rallied around the liberal message in an attempt to advance their agenda, and rightfully so.
For a party that prides itself on inclusiveness and being the "big tent" for all Americans, they have done a fine job. Nevertheless, they would do far better by becoming aware of one of their weakest points. Republicans know it and use it over and over to undermine the socially conscious causes associated with Democratic supporters.
The liberal/Democratic tendency to project a distant, overly intellectual, mass-excluding image is what might get George "War" Bush elected again. And for the same reason it got him elected in 2000.
As an Al Gore supporter in 2000, I noticed with great concern how the Democratic machine mounted attacks against Bush. It emphasized his naive, slow and simple approach to life and the world. Therefore, he was not fit to be president, they argued.
Absent from the minds of those Democrats was how much Americans identified with Bush as a person. He didn't use fancy words (not that he could) and presented himself as the kind of guy you would want to have as a neighbor or have a beer with.
This is what got him elected.
Democratic and liberal activists have the right agenda, but a lot of them have the wrong attitude in promoting it. Some of them are not aware of the existence of another America, and I don't mean Edwards' "Two Americas."
I'm referring to the white, Christian, heterosexual poor or middle class demographic that traditionally votes Republican for a number of reasons. They identify with Toby Keith and love NASCAR. In essence, they are a voting block that Democrats fail to engage.
The Democratic Party should seek in message and rhetoric to connect with this demographic, expanding the scope of their agenda to cover its concerns. Howard Dean had it right when he proposed that we "should reach out for Southerners in the back of their pick-up trucks."
When I started watching Fox News and the Country Music Channel, I had liberal friends teasing me about being an Arab-American immigrant who spends time analyzing images in Garth Brooks' videos. That's when I realized the great divide between liberal and mainstream Americans.
I watch those programs as cultural statements about an America that you won't see on a college campus or a coffee shop in San Francisco. It's an America that feels neglected, abused, mocked and forced out of the public eye. Republicans capitalize on such alienation and manipulate this group to their advantage.
I do believe in the agenda of the Democratic Party, and yet I still feel the need to do better when it comes to those "NASCAR dads" or "security moms." Letting Bush run away with their votes is a serious problem. It cost us the election last time; we need to address this issue before we have four more years of presidential failure.
Yaser Alamoodi is a political science and religious science senior. For any bones to pick, reach him at yaser.alamoodi@asu.edu.
