Democrats need to go back to the basics

Andrew Bucko

• 1 min read

More than a generation ago, after FDR helped bring the United States out of the Great Depression, he enumerated the freedoms that everyone throughout the world, not just Americans, ought to enjoy:

  • Freedom of speech and expression
  • Freedom of worship
  • Freedom from want
  • Freedom from fear

The Four Freedoms was a powerful ideal and most famously captured by painter Norman Rockwell in 1943 and distributed all over the country through The Saturday Evening Post. The paintings instantly became a cornerstone of Americana, illustrating an idealistic view of American life

Roosevelt introduced the Four Freedoms in his 1941 State of the Union Address and those very important pillars overshadow the reset of the speech. He also included six basic goals that Americans should, and do, expect from their political leaders and the economy:

  • Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
  • Jobs for those who can work.
  • Security for those who need it.
  • The ending of special privilege for the few.
  • The preservation of civil liberties for all.
  • The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

These are lofty goals for sure, but none of them are unachievable. In the years since, we have certainly made progress toward ensuring them for all Americans but we aren't there yet. The challenge, of course, is that the finish line is always moving and the more we go forward, the further from reach it seems. That doesn't mean we can not or should not continue racing toward it. We just need the desire to achieve and the willingness to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

For too long, Democrats have been trying to follow public opinion instead of doing the hard work to convince voters why we have the better policies. I think that there is an assumption that the media will report on the benefits of Democratic positions and that the voters will make rational decisions based on that. We’re constantly left wondering why so many constituencies seem to vote for candidates who advance policies that are against their own interests.

Watering down our positions or running away from our core values is not the solution. Instead, we need to do a better job explaining to voters how our policies will achieve those six basic goals and protect those Four Freedoms. We can not simply assume that the voters will make those connections on their own.