The Democrats' New National Security Plan

Critics of the Democratic Party have been calling for clear statements of their policy agenda for quite some time now and, finally, the party has delivered.

Raw Story has a copy of the leaked document (.pdf file) prior to its official release later today.

"Real Security: The Democratic Plan to Protect America
and Restore Our Leadership in the World" is a simple outline that addresses 5 key areas: the military, the war on terror, homeland security, Iraq and energy independence. The plan is ambitious and thorough but the criticism that always plagues the left - where the money to fund the suggestions will come from - is bound to be the first line of attack from the right, despite the fact that they are responsible for the current financial mess that the United States now finds itself in. This will be the greatest challenge the Democrats will face should they regain power after election 2006.

There is no doubt that the American public will warm to the ideas floated in the document: inspections of 100% of cargo, proper benefits for veterans, protective gear for all of the troops, eliminating Osama bin Laden, getting political interference out of the intel community and so on. And, the following statement is sure to bring many out of their seats with a "hell, ya!":

Hold the Bush Administration accountable for its
manipulated pre-war intelligence, poor planning and
contracting abuses that have placed our troops at
greater risk and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars.

But, the document would have been much more effective if a projected budget had also been attached to it. We'll have to wait until the official announcement to find out if these numbers have been worked out. In the meantime, however, the plan will give all Democrats a backdrop for proposed changes in order to present a more unified message to the public. That's a good first step.

UPDATE: Associated Press writer, Liz Sidoti, offers this perspective as if it is a fair critique of the Democrats' plan:

The platform also lacks specific details of how Democrats plan to capture bin Laden, the al-Qaida mastermind who has evaded U.S. forces in the more than four years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Ms Sidoti, as soon as the Republicans offer "specific details" about rounding up OBL, get back to me. What a stunningly foolish observation.