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Just like they have 'values' because they say they do.
I've seen at least two pundits challenging Democrats recently on values with questions implicitly reinforcing such outrageous propaganda along the lines of: "What do you say to Republican voters, who believe strongly in family values, about..." What is that? People who believe in tax cuts and bigotry get an automatic upper hand to patronize those who really do believe in family values? How does that happen?
It happens because Democrats allow it to happen.
The answer is not to pipe up in defensiveness "We have family values too!". It's to simply make the case that Democrats have family values, period, and pointedly, pointedly imply that Republicans don't. It's the truth, but more importantly it's how things work in the real world. Wes Clark is the only Democrat that I've seen attack these myths head on, saying Democrats are the party of family values and Democrats are the party that keeps America safe, and Republicans don't have family values and Republicans haven't kept America safe.
The second that Max Cleland had his patriotism impugned should have marked the start of a month in which you couldn't find a transcript of any Democrat speaking in public that didn't have the words "Republican chickenhawk", "Republican coward" or "Republican traitor" in every single sentence regardless of the topic.
What is it with Democratic timidity about offense? Either have the audacity to promote Democratic goodness and the courage to slam Republican badness, or just go on and let Republicans define themselves as everything good that their sleazy, self-deceptive little minds want themselves to believe they are: good, wholesome, ethical, honest, brave, .......... All bullshit spouted in endless repetition until it is taken as conventional wisdom.
Because they say so.
What exactly stops Democrats from doing the same?
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