John Dolan of Alternet has an important article on how Democrats need to get tough when it comes to language and standing up to Republicans. I think Dolan over-emphasizes the need for Democrats to get touch, linguistically and otherwise, as a means of winning over “South Park Republicans” and young, white, male voters. Perhaps tougher Democrats will help in that regard, but I think that makes the issue small-bore. Democrats should speak with pride, conviction, and strength because our ideas are better than Republican ideas. Maybe a toughened Democratic vocabulary would win some traditionally Republican demographics, but it would also make more Democrats proud to be Democrats and want to vote Democratic.

Republicans succeed with their tough-guy language not because some otherwise Democratic demographics want to be with the tough crowd, but because it speaks to their conviction. Recall Bush’s 2000 campaign, that preached him as a regular guy who you wouldn’t always agree with, but you always knew where he stood on an issue. That principle, often articulated by Paul Wellstone, is what makes a difference when it comes to strength and weakness. Wellstone won two elections – and would have one a third had he not tragically died in a plane crash – by standing up unapologetically for what he believed in. His progressive values appealed to both Minnesota’s traditional Democrats, as well as more moderate, working class voters. Any discussion of how Democrats should be more tough and stand up to Republicans more directly must include Paul Wellstone as our model, for no one in recent memory has been a stronger Democratic than Wellstone.