Posted on 11/04/2004 10:42:37 AM PST by FredZarguna
The Great Deception: Lying to Ourselves
In the aftermath of any presidential election a great deal of nonsense goes out about what a triumphant party needs to do to “reach across the aisle” and what the defeated need to do in order to “regain the trust of the people.” This is particularly true when the breadth of the victory is a great as in the instant case: the trifecta the Republicans have achieved has virtually swept the Democrats from the South. The middle section of the country is now solidly Republican, and the upper Midwest is tottering into the red.
So people can perhaps be forgiven--if only temporarily--for spouting meaningless things in the afterglow of a successful conclusion, or in the dull incomprehension of their despair.
But let’s not get carried away with this for too long.
Right now the Democrats are talking about how they need to reconnect as a party, even as numerous bloggers and commentators in cyberspace, right wing radio hosts, and print pundits hold forth that the Dems “just don’t get it.” This is wrong. They do get it. They get it because they have no choice.
The Democrat party is nothing more than a coalition of various interest groups. The party has encouraged the formation and self-identification of these groups, and their strategy going forward consists of nothing more than: 1) holding these blocks 2) drawing new voters into these blocks 3) identifying new groups sympathetic to the Democrat message of exploitation and victimization 4) fooling independents into thinking they’re something other than what they are.
The traditional playbook for holding the core constituency appeals to the irrational fears of vulnerable people: old people with no prospects for additional income dependent on the government for checks, young women with a sense of powerlessness as they emerge into an uncertain world from the safe havens of college and family, immigrants (legal and otherwise) with the natural insecurity of all newcomers, African-Americans with a heritage (now become a folklore) of disenfranchisement. In every election cycle, the Democrat party will cruelly play on the fears of these people, and that will never, ever change.
But the biggest deception comes into play when assessing how Democrats have approached the ideological middle of America. And despite all the bloviating disguised as “thoughtful analysis,” that also will not change. The simple fact is that the Democrats’ strategy for appealing to Americans in the middle-of-the-road is to appear to be, well, Republicans. How else to explain Kerry’s preposterous claim that he opposes partial birth abortion, despite having voted for it six times? How else to explain the transparently false pretension that Kerry opposed same-sex marriage? How else to rationalize Kerry’s promiscuous tax-raising portrayed as “fiscal conservatism?” How else to explain the gratuitous outing of Lynn Cheney, or the self-description as an altar boy? And how else do we get the hilarious spectacle of Kerry and his friends taking a morning break from the rigors of one of the tightest campaigns in history to “go huntin’?”
The Great Deception is the claim that the Democrat party is not a liberal party. In 2008, Hillary can dispense with reminding the inside crowd of her progressive bona fides—they’re well established. Money will flow from them. Endorsements will ring. They’re in on the game. Consequently, she’ll be free to portray herself to the middle 20%--people who vote on the basis of the last yard sign they see on their way into the polling place—that she really is a Republican after all.
The Greatest magician, Novalis once wrote, would be one who would be taken in by his own illusions. In the confusion of a shattering defeat Democrats appear to have been fooled by their own prestidigitation. This is only a cover, and conservatives must not accept it at face value. The Great Deception goes on.
But please Lord, if you’re truly merciful; spare us the image of Senator Clinton slogging through the mud in camouflage with a shotgun in the autumn of 2008.
Excellent piece, is this printed anywhere, if not it should be, great job.
Just a vanity from a software developer working in his basement in his pajamas. Thanks.
You are welcome keep up the good work. I would much rather read post like this than the next one from DU.
Nice article. Thanks for the interesting insights.
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