Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Politics

I Listened to Rush Limbaugh and Got an Idea

His quote above speaks to this theme & ndash; & ldquo;There are no rules in the Democrat Party, there are only customs and traditions. & rdquo; & What does that mean?

Don't you think he means, Democrats lack "values"? Ann Coulter certainly would concur with that interpretation. And approve or admonish her, she's still around and still selling books about much of the same theme.

How many times have phrases like & ldquo;family values & rdquo; or & ldquo;values party & rdquo; & been used by writers and speakers without even having to name the conservative Republican block of political believers? & There's no need to spell it out because listeners know that Democrats are " Godless & rdquo; & and Republicans are faith-based initiative voters.

Advertisement

Now, I don't agree with Rush's secret formula for Republican success (skewer then baste the Democrats in their own juices) but I would like to propose propelling one word from their lexicon and making it a motto of liberals misperceived as permissive, i.e. liberal = loose.

That word is & ldquo;personal-responsibility. & rdquo; & I know there's no hyphen between those two words, and that it's not even one word as suggested, but here's why I think it ought to be inseparable. &

Personal-responsibility is the bridge between those who believe Dems are looking for handouts and lack morals, and those who believe Dems consider social justice as a means to social mobility. &

Personal-responsibility is the key to moving past semantics about what is a value and what is a tradition. No party holds the onus on those bedrock American principles. No one party should hoard the terms.

Personal-responsibility is more than an ideal, it is actively moving toward fulfilling its intention.

Advertisement

The phrase is an important one in Democrat phraseology. & It's time to highlight the evolution of our party as one that, in the words of a great Democrat, asks not & ldquo;what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country. & rdquo;

Without championing Dems taking it, owning it, and respecting personal responsibility, the Left's constant cries for protecting personal liberties will continually ring shallow to those on the Right. &

Next time: how the Democrats can refocus on personal-responsibility and win the 2008 election.

-Citizen Voices blogger Alma Sove has spent most of her life in San Diego and is currently attending law school.