What should President Obama and the Democrats do now that their super-majority in Congress has been squandered? It’s simple: act like Republicans.

Every morning, White House and Democratic strategists should ask themselves, “What would George W. Bush do?” “What would Ronald Reagan do?” And, dare I say it, “what would Karl Rove do?”

I’m not talking about a wholesale rightward shift on policy issues. The urge to cede ground on core Democratic principles (coupled with a failure of messaging, as I’ll get to below), is what got the Democrats into this pickle. The noble instinct of trying to court the fleeting, vestigial apparition of bipartisanship only led to public sausage-making and a milquetoast healthcare bill that was watered down into middle-ground least-common-denominator pabulum that nobody could get excited about supporting.

This isn’t about policy—the American people elected Barack Obama in a landslide to enact real and lasting change, and he still has that mandate, Scott Brown and the tea party movement notwithstanding. This isn’t about the steak, it’s about the sizzle. It’s about strategy and tactics. Messaging and discipline. And frankly, nobody is better at it than the Republicans.

Democrats could learn a lot by watching the Republicans in action, and mirroring their playbook. Or, put another way, Dems should learn to sing from the GOP songbook, while changing the words. Here’s how.

Sing the same song. Over and over.

Tell a story and never go off message. Republicans come up with a simple, centralized message and disseminate it to every Republican who might encounter a microphone. Then everyone in the party repeats it. And repeats it. They keep repeating it without deviation until it becomes the conventional wisdom. “Weapons of mass destruction.” “War on Terror.” These terms didn’t’ exist before the Bush Administration, and they made it into the American vox populi faster than “sexting.”

Rove, Frank Luntz and Roger Ailes are the “Tinkers to Evers to Chance” of the modern political double play. They come up with a narrative and they sell it relentlessly, demonizing anyone who dares oppose them. During the Bush Administration, they didn’t obsess about not having filibuster-proof majority of 60 in the Senate. Think about it—George W. Bush convinced a Congress and a nation to go to war against the wrong country when he had only 50 votes in the U.S. Senate! Why? Because if you weren’t with him, you were “with the terrorists.” The Democrats couldn’t even sell health care reform with a rock star President and virtual supermajorities in both Houses when just this Spring, 72% of Americans were in favor of a government role in America’s healthcare system to lower costs and insure the uninsured.

Why is that? Because despite their overwhelming victories in 2008, they are still acting like a minority party. Conversely, the Republicans are still acting like the majority party. Majority parties define their agenda and set the tone. Minority parties react by trying to poke holes in that agenda. In 2009, Democrats completely ceded the narrative to Republicans, and allowed them to define issues like healthcare out of the gate. They let a fringe pack of foaming mouth extremists define any attempt at health care reform as a Socialistic government takeover of the doctor-patient relationship that will send death panels to pull the plug on grandma. And all the Democrats could do was stand idly by and attempt to counterpunch. There was no coherent message on the Dem side of the aisle. No snappy turns of phrase. They sent the debate team into a hockey match, then acted shocked when they couldn’t intellectualize their way to victory over an organized wave of frenzied bare-knuckled brawlers.

To paraphrase Sean Connery in The Untouchables, “you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.”

Sing with certainty.

Republicans pursue their strategies with absolute certainty and don’t’ tolerate hand-wringing. Democrats should not just envy the Republicans’ certitude; they should emulate it. Americans admire strength in their leaders.

The Democrats need to take a page from another Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, and “carry a big stick.” To mix metaphors, they need to take that stick to the plate, stand firm, and swing for the fences. Right now, Democrats seem scared into not swinging, for fear of being painted in an unfavorable way by Republicans as the mid-term elections approach. The result is clear: their bat never leaves their shoulder as they’re being called out on strikes, and Fox News is the umpire.

Sing your opponent into submission.

Another lesson the President Obama and the Congressional Democrats could learn from the Republicans is neutralization through demonization. Over the past fifteen years, Republicans have had major success defining their opposition before they get a chance to define themselves. Moreover, the other side is wrong even when they’re right. Turnabout, however, is not only fair play, it’s the only play.

The White House has to paint the Republicans as the party of “no” who wrecked the American economy through eight years of greed, spending, neglect and coddling bankers. Cast them as a pack of manipulative political nihilists who would rather see America fail so they can get their hands back on the reins of power. Democrats at every turn have to make the Republicans own this recession—“they had eight years to get us into this mess; we’re going to need more than one year to get us out.” Ronald Reagan was still blaming Carter for the country’s malaise on the stump in 1984.

Sing to Joe Six-Pack.

At its inception, the Contract with America conceptually held sway with this country’s middle class because it was short, simple, and took on the establishment in Washington. To recapture the independent vote that ushered him into the White House, President Obama needs to craft a jobs-heavy action plan that can be summarized in a couple of bullets. This has to be a White House plan that doesn’t leave the details to Congress to fashion. It has to be simple and it has to be sold as an “us versus them” proposition—if you oppose the White House, you hate working families and you’re in bed with the enemy—insurance companies and Wall Street bankers.

Pick fights with these unpopular vested interests the Republicans and dare them to side with Wall Street over Main Street in this economic climate. Hold simple votes that people can understand—one-page bills such as one that would make it illegal to drop someone’s insurance coverage because of a preexisting condition, or another which taxes on banks who took TARP money and paid outlandish bonuses.

And if the Republicans threaten to filibuster, make them actually do it rather than accomplishing it by merely threatening. Let the American public watch them grind things to a halt when families are hurting and unemployment is at 10 percent. The public began to turn on the Gingrich Congress when they shut down the government; make them put their money where their mouth is. “You want to filibuster? Here’s the phone book. Take it to the well of in the Senate and start reading it aloud.” See how that goes over with middle class voters who want government action because they simply can’t tighten their belts any further.

Sing in Unison.

Lastly, the Democrats should replicate the Republicans’ unanimity. The Republicans march in lock-step. The Democrats dance to their own drummer. I know that the Democrats are not nearly as homogeneous as the Republicans, but some party discipline, administered from the top-down, could go a long way toward success, both from a policy and electoral standpoint. The President can’t rely solely on leaders in the Senate and House to wrangle their caucus. The White House needs to say “look, the Republicans are going to call you a socialist no matter how you vote—it’s time to have the courage of your convictions and get in line with the program. If you don’t, because you’re worried about losing the mid-terms, look at it this way—the DNC is only going to fund Democrats who vote like Democrats.”

There is still plenty of time to correct course. Just ask the Clinton White House folks. After a rocky first year and disastrous mid-terms, they righted the ship and won re-election. How did they do it? In part by playing the game like Republicans, even hiring Republican operatives like David Gergen, Dick Morris, and Ed Rollins. If the Obama Administration doesn’t want this year’s midterms to mirror the Massachusetts Massacre, this White House might want to follow suit and take a page from their Republican brethren.

Really. It's a gift. Once you get away from the constant rhetoric, all the crowing from the right about referendums and revolutions, the self-righteous, finger-pointing, doomsday scenarios from the left, the hunky (though not my type) winner, the disappointing loser, and talk-talk-talk from all the cable channels, Massachusetts was exactly what the Administration needed: a cold shower. Now the President has a chance to get off the loony tune Beltway, remember the ADD that is the America electorate, and get back to where he started. It's all there -

• Reset expectations back to where you told the American people that it is going to be really, really hard to dig ourselves out this mess (that you did not create), that we'll all need to make tough decisions and sacrifices, and that it's not going to happen overnight. The days of instant gratification are over.
• Remind everyone, often, that takes more than one year to fix eight disastrous ones.
• Tell the American people exactly what we need to do and exactly why we need to do it.
• Remind Congress that you're the President. Not them.
• Realize that it is a complete waste of time to try to make things happen with people whose only objective is to see you fail spectacularly.
• Listen to what 90 percent of us are griping about at our dinner tables - Wall Street, jobs, affordable housing, safety at home and abroad, and yes, common sense health care. Chill out for a while on the other 10 percent - stuff like climate change, election finance,and sweeping healthcare reform that nobody understands.
• Stop doing the Republicans job for them. Let them explain why they're the only ones who don't support any of these things.
• Let Americans see you get mad. It will be good for you, and them.

Yeah, it was pretty bad luck for the "change we can believe in" express to run smack into "great recession" freight train, but guess what, we're not dead yet. Obama doesn't get much credit for that, and won't, because the bad stuff sells better - death panels, Wall Street bonuses bigger than small countries, terrorists blowing up their underwear, and Mrs. Salahi's hair extensions. But it's been one year. It hasn't been perfect. It never is. But don't write this President off yet.

Who knows? Maybe he'll send Scott Brown a thank you note.

L

Stating the obvious, trust is the lubricant for legislative and executive action in our nation's capitol. Trust between the political parties. Trust between the branches of government. Trust between the people and their government. The palpitations since Tuesday prove that there is no trust on any of those levels now; most importantly, in the last category. Following the election, if not before, there is little if any trust between The White House and Democrats. There is little if any trust between House progressive Democrats and Blue Dogs. Little if any trust between House Democrats and Senate Democrats. No trust between the White House and Congressional Republicans, of course, and of course little if any trust between Republicans and Democrats in Congress. But bottom line is the trust of the voters. Who will earn it? Until someone, until some party, until the House or Senate Democrats or Republicans, and/or the Administration does, we must be cynical about very much significant happening this year -- except jobs initiatives, which is a political and moral imperative for everyone. The SOTU speech will be critical. Will the President establish the basis for trust -- and support for his agenda?

Every change agent who has come to Washington has run into the legislative buzz saw at some point on the change agenda of the moment. They can blame the "special interests" (and they always do), but it is generally more a case of "freshmanitis." Think Jimmy Carter and his failure to escape his tendency to micromanage. Think Ronald Reagan in his first two years. The fact is, being President of the United States is entirely different from running for President. No big surprise there. The good ones eventually learn and make course corrections. Reagan did; Carter did not. Bush 41 did not; Clinton did. Which camp does Obama fall into...? We're about to find out.

If the Obama team is as good as I think it is, we will not see another bill intended to pass (as opposed to pure political statement bills) hit the Senate floor without, at minimum, a group of 3-5 Republicans on board. The Democratic base will have to satisfy itself with compromise and incremental change on climate, health, campaign finance, ethics, and financial services reform. And the right will have to fight Republican Senators getting picked off on critical issues like Lindsey Graham on climate and Richard Shelby on financial services. The path forward is the same today as the tried and true recipe for success in the Senate over the last two hundred plus years: work from the middle out and pass bills that have their critical mass resident in the group of 20 moderates. They call it the "art" of the doable for a reason. Let's see if the President's team can create a couple legislative masterpieces before election day 2010.

President Obama and Congressional Democrats can’t abandon the serious effort to fix health care, which is in dire need of repair.

Problems will just get worse without serious reform. Health care costs will continue to rise faster than inflation, and employers large and small will be forced to cut coverage or abandon it altogether. Skyrocketing health care costs will keep hurting our economy and people’s pocketbooks.

President Obama and congressional Democrats have to find a way to finish what they started and do it soon. As a non-partisan organization, we would prefer, and continue to urge, Republicans to help get it done.

As devastating as it was to Democrats’ dreams of comprehensive health care reform, the Massachusetts massacre was a gift in disguise. For Democrats, Martha Coakley played the part of canary in the coal mine, serving as a stark and unmistakable warning for the most hard-headed among their leadership that the threat of overreach is, in fact, a reality. Without Scott Brown’s victory in the bluest of blue states, Democrats were almost assuredly heading towards their slaughter in the November elections. Now, with 10 months to generate the right messaging and accomplish the right policies, they can minimize the damage from an angry electorate that is predisposed to voting against anyone perceived to be the incumbent. If unemployment is trending the right direction by November, it will be disaster averted.

With the right dose of contrition, self-awareness and moderation, Democrats can reassure voters that they are different from Republicans because they have empathy for Americans’ economic insecurity and they know how to govern responsibly. President Obama has already wisely signaled this approach by acknowledging the obvious message from Massachusetts and prescribing a modest health care approach that can earn bipartisan support. The alternative avenue – Howard Dean’s “Damn the Torpedoes” liberalism – will lead only to cataclysmic losses in November and truly stymie any chance for President Obama to make good on his proposed policy agenda.

The Massachusetts Senatorial election reminds me of the football player, who catches this picture perfect pass, dances in the end zone, thinking he scored a touchdown only to find he missed the goal line. To make matters worst the vigilant defender, recovers the ball and runs 100 yards to win the game for his team.

There was no entitlement to the Kennedy held seat. You needed to listen to the voters on healthcare and not think standing in the cold to shake the hands of hockey fans was a waste of time. Also, anytime your opponent has 93,000 friends on Facebook and you have 14,000 you are not connecting with an important electoral demographic. Enough about Massachusetts and sports analogies, Democrats relax.

Here's what our President should do: take the State of the Union to unite our country and bridge the partisan divide. Point to legislative wins for America. Focus on job creation, reduced deficit and national security. Cover the 30,000,000 people with healthcare--even if you must pass the Senate bill without changes. Going forward make your Cabinet more visible. The President should not have to provide every detail on every piece of legislation. Look closely on what the President can do through Executive Orders to create jobs.

Republicans should continue to say "no" and emphasize that this President is out of touch. Continue to remind America that Democrats are in charge of everything and are making policies that are bad for America. Specifically on healthcare, if health insurance passes blame the Democrats. If it doesn't pass remind voters that, but for, Massachusetts the Democrats would have supported it.

When the “new” double-digit unemployment numbers were announced on CNN recently I just happened to be sitting in a congressional office, and actually heard several democratic staffers groan when the numbers were flashed on the TV for the first time.

That same morning, while reading the Wall Street Journal, I found it ironic that a Senate democratic leadership aid boasted that health insurance would remain front-and-center on the nation’s agenda and that the wisdom of the Senate was not to be questioned. They’d get to jobs “soon enough.”

Soon enough!

There’s nothing dishonorable about changing course a few degrees to get to your final destination. Anyone who’s helmed a boat knows that the wind, waves and tide are constantly influencing forward motion, and therefore there is no such thing as steering a straight line.

If some correction isn’t taken by the democratic leadership soon, or recognition that there may be other things on the minds of Americans besides health care, the republican chorus will continue to cheer, “Stay the course!”

I have always believed what Jack Germond told me early in my career--that Democrats know nothing about Republican politics, so suggesting what you folks should do would be dumb. I assume the Republicans will do what they've been doing--sucking up to the right and trying to block the President.

Of course, having watched the Brown campaign succeed by keeping all the right-wingers out of Massachusetts with breathtaking discipline gives me pause that maybe Brown's successful independent-cy will be picked up by the Party elders. Nahhhh.

So, what do the D's do? First of all, the House should send the Senate health care bill to the President. Then the White House can manage the political winds and either sign it or let it die a respectful death that offers the hope of reincarnation and establishes the principles of governance that will govern the President's continuing agenda. Then he should do what EJ suggested in his column the other day and lay out those principles clearly and passionately--in my view, in the State of the Union.

Personally, I'm rooting for less freelancing and more Republican-type coordination from my party in 2010. I'd suggest the White House and both branches focus of jobs, deficit reduction and financial reform and offer a tougher, more populist vision of government and the economy, not big government programs or a centrist retreat. "People need leaders," as Mick Jagger once sang.