COMMENTARY ON US ELECTIONS

Nov 05 -- Americans spoke on Nov 2 and in the process endorsed politics and government that talked about "moral values" at the expense of better world relations, economic well-being, etc.

The conservative movement, especially among fundamental Christian evangelicals, has managed to demonize the "liberal establishment" through which America built the "Great Society", articulated equality (schools, colleges, affirmative action) and participated in multilateral world leadership.

The Democratic Party needs to sit back, reflect on its core values and create an infrastructure to champion those values. They should borrow a leaf from the conservatives who, over the years, poured money into think tanks, research chairs/endowments, newspapers, news magazines, books, talk radio, etc.

This infrastructure has allowed the flooding of conservative messages which has elbowed out liberal values of the kind that saw American growth of tolerance and world leadership.

Today liberal values are shunned even when they have been fundamental in transforming US society; today, the government is seen as an enemy of the people, driven by elites.

Yet government has been central in guaranteeing fundamental constitution rights Americans. Government, through liberal influence, built noble programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Yet today, anything called government is seen as ugly, bad and not desirable.

Democrats should worry that the entire country was painted red with blue appearing on the East and West Coast, and a couple states in the Midwest region.

Reversing the tide requires fundamental shift in strategy and tactics. They can borrow a leaf from the conservative movement and ensure that core values that have brought egalitarianism to modern society get the necessary publicity and visibility that conservative values have had.

There is more. There is a need for left-leaning intellectual thought leadership. So far, there hasn't been such a leader in modern history to offer foundations from which liberal thought can thrive. I am disappointed.