Much can be said about why liberals don't create the bumper stickers that Charles Schumer was looking for. We should start, however, by noting a fact that sometimes gets lost in partisan rhetoric today: liberals are not politically retarded. Some conservatives say or imply that they are. But they really aren't. Thus many liberals know very well that they may fail in electoral politics because they don't have a clear and powerful story, told again and again, capable of uniting them and their principles.

For example, Paul Waldman insists that politics is about telling stories to frame people and issues. Then he observes that conservatives have an attractive master narrative, in which case “progressives” desperately need an “overarching story that tells us who progressives are and what they believe.” Todd Gitlin similarly calls attention to Newt Gingrich who, on behalf of Republicans, promotes a narrative whereby Americans from 1620 to 1965 prospered by individuals working hard and productively on private projects, whereupon the Great Society “messed everything up” by funding government programs that encourage laziness, irresponsibility, and stagnation. Against the power of such a narrative, Gitlin recommends that liberals will tell voters an alternative story about how, during the course of American history, ever-widening circles of people (minorities and majorities), with occasional government help, have sought and found liberty and happiness by working together on public life – especially lately – in a “Big Tent” Democratic Party where rights and interests are discussed, compromises are concluded, and government acts to enable all citizens to prosper.

Taking such arguments a step further, Eric Alterman observes that, even if Democrats temporarily promote the right sort of story, they do not necessarily stick to it. Thus he complains about Barack Obama breaking campaign promises he made to labor unions, pro-choice voters, environmentalists, strapped homeowners, and many other Americans in need. Because “the system” is friendly to naysayers and obstructionists, says Alterman, it made Obama's promises hard to keep.