David Morey

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Democrats must fill the vacuum within the U.S. political center and not just win the 2012 election, but re-set the governance of our nation.

Policy—and not political—solutions must be found inside this "Missing Center." For example, in Wisconsin, and to avoid a governmental shut-down, it's time for more aggressive "Missing Center" leadership. This means the Democrats must move beyond a "you-go-first" negotiating strategy and offer a broad framework for budget cuts—splitting the roughly $50 billion dividing both parties rhetoric.

What does it say about the U.S. when we cannot offer a budget five months into our fiscal year? It says the system is broken; it must be re-set and modernized to begin the fix and not avoid problems. Polls show the American people want more government than we can pay for—so it's time for bolder leadership and clearer articulation of the tough choices ahead.

Here are five ways to LEAD Inside this "Missing Center":

Negotiate Negotiations: The future way forward lays somewhere between union busting and collective bargaining's maintenance of a broken status quo. Democrats must be the sensible supporters of this middle position—of a third way solution that is replicated in almost all areas of government, particularly education and debt-reduction. The history of labor relations is one of swings between management and union power—and striking the right balance is the job of today's leaders.

Use Truth As Propaganda: Bad and unsustainable government seems to be everywhere we look today. So Democrats must take the lead and tell the truth about the terribly hard choices ahead. This is what the relatively popular governors of New Jersey, New York, Florida and California are doing. Now, and nationally, we must deliver a dose of hard truth-telling.

Raise Solutions Above Politics: Polls show remarkable and brewing anger amongst the American people about our political system and our politicians' inability to transcend politics and begin to fix problems. Remember: Even a not-so-steady presidential candidate, Ross Perot, garnered 19% of the vote in 1992. And, in 2012, amidst economic chaos and global instability, a Bloomberg or a Trump could ride this anger into something more than a tie-breaker role between the parties. Democrats, then, must go high and go to the middle to find solutions that rise above petty politics.

Make Change Real: A doubling of prices for corn, soybeans, wheat and other basic crops, and $5 or 6$ gas prices, are only the beginning. The Federal Reserve Board's near tripling of money supply, the paralysis of banks in lending money, the diminished credibility of the dollar globally and the unsustainable rise in both U.S. spending and interest payments are a five-way traffic accident waiting to happen. Democrats must lead real change here: Putting the 88 percent of the federal debt that is not on the table: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Defense Spending and Interest Payments. With tax rates the lowest since Truman, and with America borrowing over 40% of what it spends from abroad, a major re-set is the only way to avoid the nightmare of high-velocity collision. We must govern to solve problems—not win elections.

Manage Libya From Afar: Paralysis, inaction or equivocation is no kind of policy. Instead, as Libya burns, Democrats must take the lead inside the Missing Center with confident steps short of direct U.S. involvement. For example: Create a UN- or NATO-administered no-fly zone—while providing limited financial aid, military equipment, special forces support, satellite and unmanned intelligence and humanitarian assistance.

America as a nation was invented by founders willing to rise above politics as usual, to compromise and find tough solutions to problems that looked impossible. It's time to go back to that future.

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David Morey is the award-winning author of The Underdog Advantage. He led the CFR Task Force on Public Diplomacy, served on the Defense Science Board's Strategic Communications Committee and is an expert in global business and foreign policy. He advised the 2008 Obama campaign on strategy.