Dear Fellow Utah County Democrats:

I've been reading a book by James Carville and Paul Begala titled Take It Back: A Battle Plan for Democratic Victory.  Carville and Begala were instrumental in the 1992 electoral victory of Bill Clinton.  They've also worked as political consultants for other Democratic candidates.

The book was written before the presidential election, which may lead some people to say that it is irrelevant now.  However, their message is highly relevant to us in Utah County.  We're still working on Democratic victory.  We're still trying to "take back" a two party system and legislators that care about human needs more than they do a rigid ideology of "no government."  We want to "take back" ethics and compassion and a higher quality of life for all citizens of Utah.

Here are some of their key points that are relevant to us:

1. The Democratic party brand hurts candidates, even strong candidates, in many parts of the county.  "Brand R is strong enough to sustain even weak candidates, while Brand D is so weak even a good candidate can't win with it in a tough state."

2. Democrats have become intellectual elitists.  That means Democrats too often write off Republicans (and even independents) as intellectually inferior.  That approach limits the appeal of the Democratic party to a pretty small group.

3. Abortion is a powerful issue for Republicans.  "Republicans understand the populist power of the abortion issue and manipulate it to their advantage.  Democrats ignore that power at their peril."  They talk about Bob Casey, the late governor of Pennsylvania, who saw abortion has a threshold issue for voters. "If Democrats didn't at least show respect for the values and beliefs that lead millions of Americans to be pro-life, they'd never hear us out on our ideas to bring them health care, jobs, and education.  They'd just slam the door in our face."

4. Democrats need to respect gun owners and clearly state they support the Second Amendment.

5. Democrats need to be up front about their opposition to gay marriage.  They should say they oppose discrimination against gays.  Democrats should not try to force rapid social change on Americans.   Voters don't want it and will resist it.

6. Democrats of faith should not shy away from talking about faith.  "Democrats simply must be more comfortable alluding to their faith in public."  They add that "in the current climate, if people don't hear a candidate referring to her faith, they presume she had none."

7. Democrats need an overarching message that clearly differentiates the two parties in voters' minds and lets them know that their interests are better served by Democrats.

In summary, Carville and Begala are saying that the Democratic Party needs to change in order to send the message to voters that our values are their values.  We need to share the values of many Utah County voters - many who are erstwhile Democrats - who have gravitated towards the Republican party because they do not see the Democratic Party has a vehicle to promote their values.

We have sought to do that in Utah County. We've begun to change the brand of the Democratic party from one that appeals only to a small fringe of voters to a party that represents the values and concerns and the hopes and dreams of the majority of Utah County voters.  Our efforts led to a double digit increase in the share of the vote in 2008 over 2006.  Over 40,000 voters voted for one of our candidates for state legislature.  (And many voted for two of them!)

Our efforts bore fruit in 2008. Moving over 32,000 people to become new voters in support of Democratic party candidates is not failure.  It is success. The acquisition of a negative image of Democrats over several decades cannot be overturned in a single election.  We may think we reached all the voters and most of them, to their own detriment, rejected us. (Perhaps that intellectual superiority again!) I reject that conclusion.  Instead, I think we reached many voters and they responded positively to our message.  The candidates worked tirelessly to reach those voters.

But many other voters simply didn't get our message.  They didn't meet our candidates personally.  They didn't get a chance to hear from them directly.  Laura Black, a state legislative candidate in Salt Lake County, knocked on some doors in her district five times.  Jay Seegmiller campaigned in his district for five years.  Both of these candidates won in 2008.  Our candidates can win, too.  It takes time. It takes effort.  It takes persistence.  But the goal line is alot closer now than it was a year ago.