Rebuild America

E.J. Dionne looks at some interesting ideas for rebuilding the Democratic party.

Meeting Sims and reading the Urban Institute manuscript provided a bracing reminder that there is an authentic search going on outside of conventional politics for the new ideas to animate a new political era -- precisely what Democrats are supposed to be seeking.

Sims is a bluff, warm man who gets excited about problem-solving. A Democrat, he will talk your ear off about the King County government's effort to work with local employers in creating a new heath care delivery system. The idea is that government can be a catalyst for negotiation, research and reform and save both public and private employers money while producing better health outcomes for consumers.

It fits with Sims's larger idea that government, far from being a drain on the nation's wealth, ought to "provide the social infrastructure and the physical infrastructure to help wealth be created." He said during lunch here the other day that Democrats should run under the slogan: "Rebuild America."

It's unlikely that Democrats are ever going to out-security Republicans. Instead of trying to outflank the GOP from the right, Democrats should hammer home what it is that they've actually done right in the last 40 years: develop America's infrastructure. Even the dumbest of voters has to recognize that with the Republicans in power, everything from highways to the military have decayed rapidly. New Orleans is the perfect metaphor. Democrats can run on a platform of rebuilding infrastructure, reforming healthcare and education, and fixing a depleted military.

Might as well give it a try. Trying to be more hawkish on Iraq hasn't worked very well.