Zell Miller Blast Dems, Says Party Is in 'Breakdown'

NewsMax.com ^ | Thursday, Oct. 23, 2003 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[jmstein7]

Retiring Sen. Zell Miller blasted his fellow Democrats on Wednesday for pushing their party so far to the left that they've left it in a state of total "breakdown."

Using some of his harshest rhetoric yet, Miller told nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity, "This party is a shrinking party."

He then slammed the current crop of Democratic presidential candidates for trying to appeal only to left-wingers and special interest groups.

"These nine candidates - the naive nine who are running for president - they're not really running for president," Miller complained. "They're running for the nomination. They're not trying to put together a consensus to win."

The Georgia Democrat continued, "They're just taking that shrinking Democratic base, that's about 32 percent right now, and they are appealing to the most shrill and the most active and the loudest - what they're doing is they're pulling this party further and further to the left."

Asked why he refers to his party's presidential field as "the naive nine," Miller told Hannity, "Because they're headed down the same road other people have gone down and we know exactly what the results were."

The Southern senator noted that in 1972, Democratic presidential standard-bearer George McGovern failed to win a single Southern state in his landslide loss to incumbent Richard Nixon.

"Mondale in '84 did just about the same thing," he added. "Dukakis in '88 didn't carry a single Southern state and neither did Al Gore in 2000."

Noting that no high-profile national Democrat came to the South to campaign in last year's midterm election, Miller said, "Isn't it an indication of the present Democratic Party's breakdown, that here these so-called national leaders can't even campaign in the South because they would do to whoever they were trying to help more harm than good."

Miller said that national Democrats have all but written off the South, a decision that means they're no longer a truly national party.

"If you're going to be a nationwide party you've got to have some nationwide appeal. And you can't totally ignore one-third of the country, especially the fastest-growing one-third, and still call yourself a nationwide party."

The leading Southern Democrat details his party's predicament in his new book, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat."

[vaudine]

Zell was appointed to finish out Paul Coverdell's term. Coverdell was very conservative, and Zell, already a conservative Dem, pledged to carry out the term in the way Coverdell would have done. He has been true to his promise.

I really hate to see him go He has a lot more common sense than a large number of RINOS.--Chaffee, Collins come to mind.

vaudine

[ForGod'sSake]

"A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat."

Let's just hope he knows whereof he speaks.

FGS

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Going out like a man.

[Southack]

It's not just Southern Democrats who are telling their Party the facts of life.

Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch has also told them the same thing, as has British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and so has former California Governor Jerry Brown.

Yet all of the genuises who labels themselves as "progressives" or "new Democrats" are ignoring the sage advice being given to them by their successful Democratic Party elders such as Senator Zell Miller.

Where is the national consensus that has to be built to win? Where's the "Vision" or bold new idea/plan?

Democrats can't just sit back and b!tch about Bush. It certainly didn't work in California against Schwarzenegger, and it didn't work for them in the 2002 mid-terms.

Nor can a major cult of personality figure save the Democrats, at least not without a Vision or national consensus (though I encourage Hillary to try it!).

Shoot, even Cuomo in New York is telling the Democrats to evolve past their current bash-Bush and fight, fight, fight nonsense, and he's not the sharpest tool in their shed.

[cinFLA]

By playing to the left, the dimowits drive centrists away, shrinking their own base.

By playing to the right, the repowits drive centrists away, shrinking their own base????

[Clintonfatigued]

Elect A Filibuster-Proof Majority---Great tag line!

[VOA]

Zell Miller Blast Dems, Says Party Is in 'Breakdown'

More "sound and fury, signifying nothing" from Zell.

I respect Zell, his service in the US Marines, and his expressions of revulsion
over the depravity of the party of which he is, AFAIK, a lifetime member.

After years of my thinking he'd truly wake up, smell the coffee and cross the aisle,
looks like he's going to stay with the folks he can hardly stand.
He is a text-book example of "learned helplessness"...like a traumatized
rat in an psychology experiment, he's frozen and won't even move towards a better place.

[Blessed]

Don't get to enamered with Zell. He is just in the middle of a Zig. The Zag is still to come.

This is the man who was Lester Maddox's Chief of staff and then Clinton's biggest fan.

[Bonaparte]

"They're just taking that shrinking Democratic base, that's about 32 percent right now, and they are appealing to the most shrill and the most active and the loudest - what they're doing is they're pulling this party further and further to the left."

That's the whole idea, Zell. This will be the first time the communist party USA has ever achieved such a large membership. And all they have to do is keep calling it the "democratic party."

[samtheman]

George Bush is center-right. Not far right.

Howard Dean and the nine ninies are all far left.

[hosepipe]

Well, Zell welcome to the republican party...WE COULD USE another RINO.... </snide>