The Common Good: No Sacrifice At All

David Brooks again shows why he's the liberals' favorite conservative in his New York Times column this week (registration and possible payment required; free registration at the StarTribune). His theme is one I've been harping on here and in political conversations for some time now: why can't a Democrat get up and say what they stand for -- because clearly they stand for both everything and nothing today.

Brooks notes a growing consensus by liberal intellectuals around an old but forgotten theme: The common good. Citing a recent essay by writer Michael Tomasky, Brooks notes:

"Tomasky is now back with an essay in the American Prospect, in which he argues that it is time Democrats cohered around a big idea -- not diversity and not individual rights, but the idea of the common good. The Democrats' central themes, Tomasky advises, should be that we're all in this together; we are all part of a larger national project; we all need to make some shared sacrifices and look beyond our narrow self-interest. Tomasky is hoping for a candidate who will ignore the demands of the single-issue groups and argue that all Americans have a stake in reducing economic fragmentation and social division."

He notes that Democratic pollsters are saying the same thing.

"John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira, have just finished a long study that comes out in exactly the same place. Surveying mountains of polling data, they conclude that the Democrats' chief problem is that people don't think they stand for anything. Halpin and Teixeira argue that the message voters respond to best is the notion of shared sacrifice for the common good."

As a conservative, Brooks points this out a more negative light than I would. If I were writing for Democrats today, I'd talk not in terms of "shared sacrifice" but about that shared mission.

I'd point out that we are a part of all of our communities, and in America, our government is not some separate caste of elites but an expression of ourselves, what we want for our communities, our states and our nation. Our shared mission is to make them all a place where people can improve their lives, make something of themselves and take care of each other when they can't do it themselves.

You can tax me for this. It's no sacrifice at all.
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Bonus! Visit some of my other political screeds!

Criminal Ineloquence

Invest in America

Hindsight is Foresight

State of the Union Part II

State of the Union Part I