dumbocrats
Mood:  accident prone
Are the Democrats Playing Right Into Bush's Hands??
By Daniel G. Jennings
The Democrats it seem are playing right into President Bush's hands. They appear to be doing everything in their power to destroy whatever chances they have of winning the White House or regaining control of Congress in 2004 with the stupidest set of political moves I've seen in a long time.
First there is the political witch hunt and smear campaign being waged over the 16 words in the State of the Union message and the whole Iraq War. The Democrats are staging a major attempt to destroy the President based on the flimsiest of premises the 16 words in the state of the Union message. Never mind the fact that British intelligence is standing by its conclusion that Saddam tried to import uranium from the African nation of Niger or the lack of any evidence disproving these claims. The Democrats base their whole case on a former ambassador who flew to Niger and asked local officials (presumably the same people taking Saddam's money) if the claims were true. An individual who is now behaving like a Democratic party activist.
The effect of the political witch hunt the Democrats stage over this issue will be to destroy themselves. The public supports the war and sees Bush as the good guy. They'll see Bush as the hero, a decent patriotic man trying to defend the country and the Democrats as a bunch of arrogant witch hunters. They'll also conclude rightly that the whole thing is an attempt to pay the Republicans back for trying to impeach Clinton over Monica. Trying to sabotage the war effort and smear the President while American soldiers are fighting in Iraq won't sit well with the public.
Then there's the war, Bush has certainly accomplished a lot. He's removed one of the most oppressive and murderous regimes on Earth from power, ended Iraqi attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, secured our oil supply and the Middle East peace. Now we are predictably faced with a guerrilla campaign that will cost some American lives. Democratic politicians who make an issue of the body bags will seem like ghouls profiting from death and suffering not high minded moralists.
The left has concluded that a few terrorist attacks are a second Vietnam War. I don't see the kind of massive guerrilla armies America faced in Vietnam. Do the Iraqi guerrillas have the government and infrastructure of an entire country to back them up as the Vietnamese communists did? Do they have the support of a super power willing to supply them with arms and financing as the Vietnamese communists did? No, they don't.
There's no way the Iraqi guerrillas can stand up to our military might or stage massive attacks on us. After a few months their campaign will sputter out, their supply of rocket propelled grenades will run out, their leaders will get captured or killed and Iraq will quiet down. The electricity will come back on, the oil will start flowing and the economy will start functioning.
Without large numbers of American casualties and the fear of a draft, the war will not be a serious political issue here at home. Any time and efforts the Democrats spend opposing it will be wasted. Many people will conclude the Democrats are protecting terrorists.
At home there are the silly social issues, gay rights in particular, an issue that only matters to the religious right and gays themselves. The vast Americans don't give a damn about gay rights and those that do think about it oppose it. This includes many working class voters who have religious rejections to gay marriage. Harping on gay rights will drive away many traditionally Democratic voters and do little to promote the party's image.
Finally there's the tilt to the left, as evidenced by the success of Howard Dean. Dean, the former governor of Vermont is vocally ant-war, (although he's conceded that the occupation of Iraq won't end anytime soon) and a staunch gay rights activist. Dean is getting lots of media attention and raising lots of cash even though he seems like the poorest choice for the Democrats in 2004. Pundits have already dubbed him McGovern II, a candidate so left wing he doesn't stand a chance.
We see how the Democrats are dooming themselves, but the question remains can they win in 2004? Yes, if they forget about the war and gay rights and concentrate on meat and potatoes economic issues. Healthcare, overtime pay, daycare, etc, things average Americans care about they stand a chance.
If the Democrats would spend as much time and effort opposing the recent overtime pay reforms (which essentially end overtime for the Middle Class). They would be seen as the champion of the little guy rather than the pets of the arrogant elite. If they'd keep pushing for real health care reform, and more money for things like education they'd get popular support. If a Democrat would have the guts to stand up and say I will try to build a national high speed rail system or come out in favor of mass transit the public would go for it.
The problem is this isn't going to happen. The peace movement and the single issue social activists have gotten control of the Democratic Party and would rather go down with the ship than steer a new course. My guess is the Democrats will have to crash and burn in 2004, before they figure out how to start winning elections again.