One of the frustrations that brought the founders of DFER together in the first place was the all too frequent assertion from guys like Leo Casey that if you happen to believe that American kids deserve a better education than we are currently giving them, it somehow makes you a Republican.
Many of us felt that it was not only an asinine position, but one which – by virtue of the chilling effect it tends to have on debate within the Democratic Party – contributed to the widespread perception that Democrats were increasingly devoid of real problem-solving ideas.
As this anti-union guy (????) Andy Stern put it in 2004, (after he wondered out loud at the Democratic Convention in Boston whether it might actually be better for John Kerry and the Democrats to get our asses kicked again, so that we might come to the understanding that we have a bit of a substance problem on our side):
“I think we are a stale party of ideas. We can’t talk about education. We can’t discuss when it is failing our members’ (children) in public schools in urban areas. You know, we’re the experiment. Maybe vouchers aren’t the only answer, but then what is? I’m tired of hearing if we just pay teachers more, you know, life will be terrific. It’s a huge problem.”
Our bizarre willingness as a party to let manipulitive guys like Leo shut-down conversations before they can even start is one of the reasons we make it so easy for Republicans to look like they have ideas behind their positions, while we end up looking like the party where ideas are off the table.
And Leo, who perhaps in honor of Labor Day Weekend turned in one of the few posts in his blogging career which didn’t seem to require chapters to break up the copy, is falling back to his old position that DFER is a front group for both Republicans and (in a new twist) Communists.
He suggests as proof that I’ve got nothing nice to say about Democrats and only nice things to say about two Republicans (one of whom is really a Democrat). Whatever. But he seems to have missed posts like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this. and this. etc., not to mention prominent “Quotes of the Day” from Dems like Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, Antonio Villaraigosa, Roy Barnes, Jack O’Connell and Bobby Kennedy.
Not everything we have to say is nice. Just because Leo thinks the crop of Democratic presidential candidates is perfect doesn’t make any of them particularly good (right now) for the long term prospects of public education or for the kids who rely on it to have a shot at a good life. His lovey dovey stance also doesn’t mean we won’t get our asses kicked again at the polls because we refuse to run on strong ideas.
Somewhere, despite the obstructions, there is a heart and soul within the Democratic Party. The only question is whether or not they will be allowed to show themselves.
UPDATE: Leo has a good response taked on as an update to his post. To get to the specifics he is looking for from me: (1) The Republicans will have their turn. Education is an issue that Democrats should own by a landslide. We don’t, but we should. DFER’s mission is clear in that is seeks to give voice within the Democratic Party to those who believe that a significant transformation is necessary in the way we educate American kids. It’s not our job to help Republicans get better on education issues, especially since we expect to help our side win on the issue. In that sense we are unabashedly partisan. (2) To date, many of us (myself included) have found every Democratic presidential candidate to be lacking on education. Most of the candidates, in their defense, insist they are still working on their education positions, which seems to be very good news. But Leo is correct in highlighting the early election season angst over here. (3) I do find it particularly destructive that our party, which purports to stand for the little guy, is so willing to take away the (already severly limited) ability of parents with kids in crappy schools to transfer them to better public schools. Additionally, it would seem foolish to take the heat off of struggling suburban and other middle class schools without first getting them to agree to seriously make room for kids elsewhere who have repeatedly been told since NCLB was enacted that there are no good public schools for them, anywhere.
UPDATE II: One of the reaons I like engaging with Leo was waiting for me in my apartment mailbox when I got back into NYC tonight. Thanks for the very funny gift, Leo. You’re a great sport. I’m still chuckling, but my wife thinks it is making the apartment smell too much like a Dead show.