Democrats Need to Stand On Principle and Show Strength on Iraq

Drew Westen, author of the Political Brain, explains why Democrats in Congress need to be stronger on Iraq policy and tells why they have failed so far.

The way to win the center on national security is not to try to craft centrist positions on national security. Particularly in the post-9/11 era, Americans want leaders who will decisively pull the trigger. But "pulling the trigger" today doesn't mean rattling our sabers almost as loud as the GOP, or complaining that we don't have the votes when we have the majority. Americans may not understand the subtleties of cloture, but they get the gist: that they handed the ball off to the party that's now in the majority, who they expected to run with the ball instead of consistently playing defense. The way to project strength on national security and to win back the Reagan Democrats who voted for Bill Clinton (despite his draft record) and flirted with the Democratic Party again in 2006 is to exude strength, particularly in the face of aggression, whether that aggression is from al Qaeda or from a bully in his bully pulpit.

Basically he says to grow a spine and stand on principle and people will respect you even if they don't agree with everything you say. There are too few Democrats actually doing this. Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold, and Patrick Leahy are the ones that come to mind in the Senate.

Too many Democrats think they have to move to the center or think there is a magical Third Way. What these Democrats are actually doing is undermining their own principles by reinforcing the Right's arguments.