Problem: Our friends on the right are admirably succinct. Ask the most reasonable of them to define their philosophy of government. Their answers are generally straightforward: small government; low taxes; minimal regulation; local control; individual responsibility.

Challenge: For Democrats to define their goals as concisely.

Draft solution: "Use government effectively . . . for a safe, secure, fair, smart and healthy country . . . that works."

By "Safe" we mean something different, though not entirely, from "secure." It means safe water and air; safe food and drugs; and safe homes, streets and neighborhoods in every sense of the word. Try keeping the wealthiest and most powerful country in human history "safe" with a "small" and ineffective right-wing GOP-led government. Unsafe at any speed.

"Secure" means not only physically secure, but financially secure. A government that can't defend its borders and guarantee a stable economy is, by some definitions of the word, no government at all. Try keeping the wealthiest and most powerful country in history "secure" with a "small" and ineffective right-wing GOP-led government, especially one that eschews regulation and enforcement. Insecure, at best, and unsafe.

"Fair" means just that, banding together in a "more perfect union", first and foremost, in the words of the Constitution to "establish justice" in every sense of the word. Try guaranteeing the rule of law in the wealthiest and most powerful country in human history with "small" and ineffective right-wing GOP-led government. Let "communities" decide who's a "real" American? We know that's unfair and unjust, though (as segregation reminds us) under the leadership of the right, not always unlawful. Worse, it's insecure, and unsafe.

By "smart," I mean not only as intelligent as a person in good health can be, but as well educated as possible, and capable of rational thought and action. Try teaching or training the citizens of the most powerful country in human history with a "small" and ineffective GOP-led government. Irrational, at best. Throw in a serious conviction of special insight into the mind of God, and it gets worse: not smart, not fair, and neither safe nor secure.

"Healthy" means needing as little medical care as possible, and, if it's needed, having it available. Try keeping the citizens of the most powerful economy in human history . . . and their children . . . healthy, with a "small" and ineffective GOP-led government. Unhealthy, irrational, unfair, unsafe and insecure.

A country that "works" means a country at work, and one that's working well. People who don't like government generally don't run it very well. And when government (which they already distrust) is staffed by people who were elected to eliminate it . . . (surprise!) Not only do the government and its agencies not work . . . neither do all too many of the rest of us.

Vote for those who respect the institutions they're asking you to elect them to run: men and women who want to use government, not cripple it . . . for a safe, secure, fair, smart and healthy country . . . that works. Democrats.