The heart of the current Democratic Party reflects its respect for all its citizens, its tolerance of diversity and its natural inclination to fight injustice and to protect and lift up the disadvantaged. Its approach to politics emphasizes the we as in “We the people”, rather than me, as in what’s in it for me.” In developing public policy and setting priorities we take a pragmatic approach that does the most good with the resources available. It is a positive approach that appeals to the intelligence and good-heartedness of the American people in order to gain support for progressive policies.

The operatives of the current Republican Party see their base constituency in a very different light and their political approach is very different. Republican policies favor their benefactors who are the wealthiest of Americans and the narrow economic interests of corporate managers. Yet ultimately, they must attract the votes of citizens, even if their public policies are contrary to best interests of these same citizens. How do they accomplish this trick? First of all there is little or no attempt to appeal to the intelligence of this electorate. It is all about magnifying and hyping the visceral, emotional responses of people who are told by Republicans they are victims of the federal government and that they are being taken advantage of by people not of their social class, race or religion. They assume that if the right tune is played or the right hot button issue is raised, the Republican politician does not have to support public policies that do the most good for the people, and they can advance a policy agenda which curries the favor of special corporate interests who in turn will fund their campaign and election to a position of power. They have calculated that their voting constituency of social conservatives will be easily manipulated by demonizing Obama and blocking every major action of the Democratic Party. It is a very negative approach to politics that has been the norm for some time.

Many Democrats have been discouraged by the polls and the chattering of editorialists masquerading as journalists on both the right and the left. Could the Republican approach be correct? Are we a nation of crazy, ignorant, bigoted, selfish people that can be or even wants to be manipulated by single issues nebulous negative politics from unworthy political leaders? The answer for Republicans is yes, because they have to use duplicity to get elected in order to promote the true interests of their benefactors. The Republican base is still a minority of the American people, although the terrible economy and uncertainty has caused the Republican sneer and fear campaign to gain more traction.

The large majority of the American electorate is not like the Republican base. To their credit they are not easily manipulated with single or hot button issues, but they lack focus and confidence that the Democrats can govern and are actively advancing their best interests. The problem is impatience with the slow pace of economic recovery and general apathy among young and infrequent voters. They currently do not equate their voting as a good citizen’s obligation to the country. Also, they do not vote unless they feel they have a good reason to do so. This was evident in the last Presidential election. In that campaign there was a positive message of hope for change for the better both in the policies and the approach to solving problems. Why then should Democrats either hunker down out of sight or try to sound like Republicans in hopes of swaying a few conservative votes their way. There are no votes for Democrats within the Republican base. They are conditioned to the fear tactics of the Republican Party and feel embattled to keep the status quo.

The votes that can be garnered by Democrats are from the young citizens who are currently apathetic and not engaged politically. They are apathetic either because they don’t consider their vote as important since Obama is not on the ballot or they do not believe the Democrats will fight for them. The other votes are from persuadable Independents who wonder if the Democrats will fight for their beliefs or hide. To avoid defaulting to the Republican we must find our Democratic voice and get behind Obama and his positive message to the American people.

The Democratic Party and candidates seeking election should not be timid in taking bold positions and actions to contrast themselves from Republicans and to advance the Democratic agenda. This is not the time to be meek and to avoid politically contentious issues. We should welcome and challenge the distortions and manipulations by the Republicans that are sure to come. The conservative base and the tea party folk are motivated because they believe that the Republican Party will protect and advance their interests. The Democratic Party will get that same enthusiasm only if the Democratic Party and candidates aggressively try to do what is best for the people without pandering or manipulation.

We Democrats must show our resolve to the American people and not hide from them or run away from Obama. We should move forward on the $50 billion infrastructure construction initiative. We should extend the tax cuts affecting the joint filers earning less than $250,000 in taxable income, but let those cuts affecting those earning more than $250,000 expire. We should challenge this failed notion of “trickle down economics” that is the Republican mantra. We should take a clear stance on comprehensive immigration reform, starting with the Dream Act affecting deserving young people that have successfully completed their education here and only know the U.S. as their country. We should press forward on all major issues that face our nation and not pause before the election. We should meet criticism head on and state our position on issues strongly whether we win or fail to overcome Republican obstructionism. We need to have Obama out in front to communicate our approach and all true Democrats should stand up with him. We need to reaffirm and give credence to our slogans. “When Democrats win, the People Win.” And “Yes We Can.”

Transition team members include:

State Representative-elect Ronald Reynolds, Mark Bankston, Clara Caldwell, Joelynn Clouser, Matthew Davis, Andrea Downey, Lynn Franklin, S. Qaisar Imam, Rudy Velasquez, Elizabeth Lyles, Deron Patterson, Don Payne, Matthew Probus, Farhan Shamsi and Kathy Soltani.

This group is specifically charged with drafting a set of guidelines that will be used to develop a Strategic Plan for the Party. Areas of focus include precinct chair recruitment and retention, growing local Democratic clubs, fund-raising and establishing a Democratic brand in Fort Bend.

“Although I’ll seek the advice and counsel of many Democratic activists, I’m asking this group to jump-start the process of drafting our blueprint for success,” Brown added.