Deficit hawking is an important part of putting together a new coalition in the coming years. The Republicans are on the verge of (if not past the verge) of permanently forfeiting their right to claim to be the bearers of fiscal responsibility. There are a large group of voters (largely younger suburban voters) that are not comfortable with voting for the Democratic party for two main reasons right now.

First is our credibility on national security, which has been thoroughly discussed in the blogosphere. A significant image change is needed, one that I believe should stress Clinton-style interventions with a new dialogue and framework regarding an approach to the war on terror that is an active alternative to the Bush administration. I personally believe this should involve an enormous shift of funding/focus away from a military dedicated to fighting wars to a Marine/Navy SEAL/Ranger style military that focuses on breaking up terrorist cells around the world. It's less expensive, more intelligent, and more efficient than regime change in every unfriendly country across the world. But such is a message for another day.

Also critical to gaining the votes of these moderates is to appear to be in favor of small, unobtrusive, fiscally responsible government of the Clinton variety. Remember why he was so popular with mainstream voters?

These fiscally responsible moderates are uncomfortable, and sometimes just as uncomfortable as us, with the religious wingnuttery currently dominating the Republican Party. And they'll vote for us if, nationally, we seek to balance the budget and cut into the debt and we have national security credibility.

We should speak of the deficits in a Clintonian frame. And because of Clinton's balanced budget/surplus, this should be our issue. Solving the budget crisis isn't about being more like the Republicans, as Chris Bowers fears. It's about being Clintonian. Our frame should be easy to construct.

We can pick up millions of voters nationwide that are secular, uncomfortable with the idea of huge government, and are concerned about terrorism. Conventional frames place these voters in the Republican Party but recent events give us an opportunity to make HUGE inroads with these voters.

I also like the idea of calling them "Kiddie Conservatives," because they're just like kids when it comes to the idea of responsibility. They just don't have any.