Reply #3: "Democrats talk alot about policy" [View All]

[ClarkUSA]

"People who don't know much about you probably assume that you're a one-trick pony -- that you're all about national security. But you've spoken out forcefully on other issues, too. Will national security still be the most important thing in 2008, or will other issues become more important as we get closer to that election?

I think the Democratic Party has to do three things. It has to prove itself a full-service party that is able to deal with and sustain the confidence of the American people on national security.

That's No. 1.

That's No. 1. No. 2 is that it has to show that it's a party that can appeal to, and has appeal in, all parts of the country. We're not writing people off. In fact, local Democratic parties in the South are quite strong -- they just don't have a national
connection. The reason is that a lot of the people who vote Democratic on bread-and-butter issues see the national election as something that's more about the future of America. It's not about road improvements, school improvement, Medicaid. It's about which party can best protect and take America forward.

The Democrats do a good job at the local level, but when you get to the national level, we've got to be a party that puts America first -- before any of the particular issues we like to talk about in our party. Democrats talk a lot about policy. But those policy issues, you know, they seldom decide a national
election. National elections are decided on convictions. They're decided, ultimately, on a gut check the voter makes. It's not head, it's heart, as the voter goes into the booth and says, Who's the best person and what's the best party to entrust the future of this country to?"

......

...when they go into the , they see the issue -- of who they can trust with the future of the country -- through their heart, while the (Democratic Party) tends to look at it in terms of policy competition.

Does that start with standing up for yourselves as a party?

It does.

:applause: Nominated!