President Bush is in town today. Our local newspaper, of course, told everyone where he is staying creating the need for insane security anywhere near downtown. Thanks, guys.

What strikes me as odd as I make my rare foray into politics, is that I received a survey from the Democratic Party National Committee yesterday while I was out of town. The survey was full of false dilemmas, so I answered “Don’t Know” for most of the questions. However, they did provide a space to write my thoughts. They assured me that they would listen regardless of whether or not I sent a $35 check.

Ahem.

So this is what I said to the DNC without sending a check.

To the DNC:

I appreciate your concern over my views as a registered Democrat in the state of Nebraska. This is considered a predominantly Republican state as evidenced by George W. Bush’s several visits here. Given the space provided, I wish to share three basic thoughts with you.

• The country is starving for someone with integrity.
• Substance is more important than presentation.
• The Northeast corner of the US does not represent the Democratic party.

Integrity
Many people I know bought into the image of President Clinton as “Slick Willie”. Despite the irrelevance of the Monica Lewinsky ordeal, seeing him attempt to parse a two-letter word damaged what little integrity he was perceived to have. Real people know what is “is”. Al Gore was too connected with President Clinton to be perceived as having integrity, though his term as senator demonstrated he had some. Senator Kennedy is shown to get a lot of work done, but he has never successfully run for office because of Chappaquidick. (Turns out he ran in 1980. Oops!) I can think of only a few Democrats senator that can be perceived as having integrity – and no, one is not Senator Leiberman. I’ll talk about them later.

Fact is, Senator McCain is one of the few politicians perceived as having at least some integrity. For awhile, he was perceived as wanting to do the right thing instead of the party thing. Fortunately for you, he is now trying to make the Religious Right happy. Doing things like speaking at Liberty Unviersity’s graduation is an attempt to make everyone in the GOP like him and repair riffs with Rev. Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the like. As I said, you’re lucky he is doing that as Democrats have fewer candidates that represent integrity at all. Sen Obama comes close – his appearance on the Daily Show was frank and to the point, as well as appropriately funny.

Find someone with integrity. Senator Hillary Clinton is not that person. John Edwards is not that person. Senator Kerry is not that person. Chairman Dean is not that person. It is important that this person with integrity is new to the media and the country at large. The faces you are currently touting to run for President in 2008 will all lose barring the GOP appoints a person viewed as having less integrity or if they nominate Governor Jeb Bush.

Substance
A better word might be gravitas. No politician of superstar status is seen as having much gravitas. It’s no wonder really. The DNC invented an issue labelled ‘electability’. It wasn’t a real word before 2000 and it wasn’t used exhaustively until 2004. Whatever you think it takes for a person to be elected is completely wrong. Chairman Dean said that the reason we lost in 2004 was that the message didn’t get out. People of all parties laughed at that response as is was so far from reality as to be ludicrous.

We lost because we presented no one with much substance. Senator Kerry had some substance to him, but the label of flip-flopper stuck. If he runs again, that label will stick again. The VP candidate was a half-term senator chosen because of his youth and glibness. Youth and glibness do not win elections. If they did, why did Americans vote for George W. Bush in the first place? He is neither young nor glib. In fact, there is a cottage industry centered around his misuse of the English language. No, Dubya was seen as having more substance than Kerry for a variety of reasons. That is not saying much – comparing two anthills when you’re looking for a skyscraper has the same feeling.

Fortunately for us, the GOP has bought into the myth of electability as well. For some reason, they currently believe Senator McCain is not electable. They cannot get General Colin Powell to run, if he ran he would win in the biggest landslide in history. Unless they pull out a wildcard like Hagel (Nebraska) or some successful moderate governor, we are safe. So I beg you to find someone with some gravitas to nominate in 2008.

When I look around the party, I see people like Senator Feingold. He is relatively young. More importantly, he is the only senator that voted against the Patriot Act in 2001. The only one. We should be drumming this fact up with all possible fervor. With the concerns over personal security that have arisen out of the original Patriot Act and its successor, this is crucial. Senator Feingold did something that at the time was extremely unpopular. History has proven him right. No, he’s not a moderate, but he has demonstrated that he can do the right thing under pressure.

Take a look at Senator Byrd. Whenever he is asked a question, he answered plainly and clearly. Listening to him gives people a sense that he knows what is going on in Washington. Again, forget the word electable. I know that he is from West Virginia. I know that he is in his late eighties. I know that he has not been strictly party line in some areas. Great! Sign him up for 2008 now. If you really cannot get past these two irrelevant factors, see if he has a protege and sign him up instead.

Give Senator Obama some time to serve in Congress. Once he has a couple of terms under his belt, he would also be good. He is all the things you think you like about John Edwards plus he can actually speak for himself and he actually has some experience.

Let me tell you about myself so that you may understand why I am concerned about substance. I have a good paying job. I make about 49K a year. However, I pay $670 a month for insurance and this insurance only covers 80% of my bills. My son’s birth was $112K before insurance because of NICU treatment, surgeries, and other things surrounding his Goldenhar’s Syndrome. You know that insurance companies consider a hearing aid “a cosmetic enhancement”? Mine does, and it’s not just here. Why? Blue Cross/Blue Shield is in every state. Their upper management gets bonuses in the millions while their customers are getting insurance that barely allows them to get by. Check it out if you don’t believe me – insurance companies do not consider a hearing aid a medical expense. I am a Democrat because I believe that the insurance industry doesn’t serve me or most other people in this country. It needs to be changed. Are you going to put up a candidate that just parrots the party-line? Are you going to nominate a person that has mock-outrage at all this, but has been rich his entire life? I want something done, but I won’t vote for someone that looks like they are just saying the right things to get elected.

Give up this electability myth. It is killing you and all the rest of us.

Who are Democrats?
Polls lie. The NE corner of the US doesn’t represent the Democratic party. Thinking this way limits the range of input to our detriment. Yes, they should be heard and no, the Midwestern Democrats should not become the new policy police. However, I believe that most independents feel a Democrat has to be in New York or Vermont in order to be a real democrat. This perception has got to go.

Thank you for the opportunity to express my views on the state of our party.