Except, now the blue are red and the red are blue. That and the NE+West Coast no longer electorally outweigh the rest of the country.
Posted on 11/11/2002 3:15:10 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
The Bush victory — and that is what it was — stunned the commentariat and left the Democrats in disarray. Many now believe that the Democrats are paying the price for underestimating Bush and swallowing their own propaganda. This view certainly contains more than a grain of truth. But it take more than a few grains to make a loaf.
President Bush has struck a chord with the masse of Americans, a chord that resonates in his phenomenally high ratings. These ratings did not translate, as some think, into electoral support but are the result of that support.
The Democrats’ problem, which their friends in the media share, is that they have become victims of their own harsh rhetoric, coming to believe that Republicans are either stupid or evil. As Bush is self-evidently not evil, at least to more rational Democrats, it follows, from this line of reasoning, that he must be stupid. This approach was eventually bound to lead the Democrats into a dead-end in which their basic weapons would be obstruction, personal abuse, race-baiting (their favorite) and even electoral corruption. (After all, the means justify the end if the Democrats are to save America from stupid or evil Republicans).
The result was a staggering reversal of fortune for the Democratic Party, with the Republicans winning 53 percent of the total vote, giving it six-percentage points over the Democrats. The Republican average for the Senate races was 52.2 percent and 53.4 percent for the 435 house races. These figures, combined with the president’s popularity and the pattern of voting, are signaling a crushing defeat for the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election.
In 1900 William B. McKinley won second term as a Republican president, sweeping the opposition aside by winning 292 electoral votes, including Democratic New York. The Republicans dominated the Senate, holding 55 seats to the Democrats 31 seats. The situation in Congress was equally grim for the Democrats who were left with 151 seats compared with the Republicans 197 seats.
Although McKinley was certain to win a second term, the country’s recent victory over the Spanish Empire undoubtedly strengthened his electoral support. And this is what Democrats now fear — in the current circumstances a Bush victory over Saddam would guarantee him a second term and possibly drive the Democrats into the political wilderness for years as more blacks and Hispanics come to realize that Republicans are not a bunch of neo-Nazis. What this means is that American politics could be in a fundamental state of transition that is highly dangerous to the ambitions of the Democrats.
So what will the Democrats do? The sensible thing would be for them to reexamine their positions on a range of issues, particularly defense and national security in general. Unfortunately the party appears to be so thoroughly dominated by the McGovernites who took it over in 1972 that there seems little chance for any serious introspection. The signs are, at least for the moment, that the left will take control of the party thus consigning it to the political margin. This view is strengthened by the news that Nancy Pelosi, an extreme leftwinger, has the support of the caucus in her bid to replace Gephardt as the Democrats’ leader in the House. (No doubt Republicans are fervently praying for her success). If this is true then it would be clear that the Democrats had failed miserably to learn the lessons of Bush’s victory.
All of this finally brings us to Daschle, McAuliffe and the Clintons. Daschle proved himself to be temperamentally and intellectually inadequate to the task of defeating Bush. His presidential ambitions are now in tatters and, with the help of the Clintons, further humiliations are very likely in the pipeline. The ethically challenged McAuliffe proved himself totally unfit in every conceivable way. Regardless of his bluster he is heading for the guillotine. And don’t be surprised to see Hillary and Bill, his mentors, polishing the blade.
Right now the Clintons are the key to the Democrats’ revival. As things stand, while these two ruthless and overly ambitious manipulators are allowed to strongly influence, if not actually determine, the party’s policies and its selection procedures, the party faithful can expect to look forward to many years of Republican government.
P.S. Hillary is the biggest McGovernite of the lot.
Go Pelosi!
LOL
You sure do :)
Funny that none of our rags have the courage or intellectual honesty to call a spade a spade. But then only Republicans can be extremists, right? Just like only whites can be racists.
One is known by the company he keeps.
"Commentariat"? What a FABULOUS term! I confess I had never heard it before, but I'm appropriating it forthwith, cause it's so COOL.
But alas is McCain Teddy Roosevelt? And who is William Howard Taft.
Do you really thing that Al Gore is William Jennings Bryan?
I do like the sound of that.
Anyway, enduring a long rant from my sister, a "moderate" of the Pelosi mold, can you tell me the level of anti-Americanism in Australia? Thank you.
I love that word! Between the implosion and the crushing, the dems. are destined for a laid-waste scenario. Where only the cockroaches and Nadler survive. And we don't even have our finger on the destruct button, that's the best part.
And "Socks C." was distantly related to "Buddy." We've heard these pathetic attempts at reflected glory before.
Do you really thing that Al Gore is William Jennings Bryan?
Then who is Woodrow Wilson -- Hillary?
And that makes Al Gore to be Hillary's Secretary of State.
Except, now the blue are red and the red are blue. That and the NE+West Coast no longer electorally outweigh the rest of the country.
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