Posted on 09/17/2004 6:21:53 AM PDT by crushkerry
We are hardcore partisans here at crushkerry.com. There’s no denying it. But at the same time, we understand that political tension between equally strong parties makes for better government. So for that reason alone, we hope the Democrats one day reclaim a little of their old glory and begin to advocate some serious ideas within the public square. It not only will make for a better US of A, but it’ll also help keep the GOP honest.
But this is not the year.
Instead, this year finds the Democrats fueled by rage and hate. Their big idea this election season is not a major healthcare plan or a big tax reform, but rather “Anybody but Bush.” And they don’t care whose throat they step on along the way.
Take the Take the stories of Kerry supporters actually spitting on GOP delegates in New York during the convention.
A less drastic example comes from John Kerry himself. His recent “Excuse Presidency” speech can only be called a harangue. Virtually every sentence in the rant began with the pronoun “He” or “His.” Of course, Kerry was talking about George W. Bush. And while Kerry shouldn’t be expected to say kind things about his opponent, the speech represented all that is wrong about the current American political dialogue. Kerry blames George W. Bush for everything, which is odd because most of the characterizations he foists on America are either greatly exaggerate or are ongoing challenges Bush inherited from his long list of predecessors. If Bush put cream in his coffee, Kerry would accuse him of pandering to the dairy industry.
We have ridiculed the “bitterly divided” analysis so popular in American punditry today. The truth is America has had frequent periods of bitter division and there is nothing unique about the current split in American opinion. But the emotionalism behind that division, particularly on the Left, is something to behold indeed.
This level of emotionalism will not die down until this abusive wing of the modern Democrat Party is discredited and the more serious folks in that once august faction reclaim their rightful role in what they used to call the Party of the People.
I recently had a conversation with a loved one who happens also to be a Bush hater. She claimed that if Bush won, she was going to move to British Columbia. I called such a notion “absurd,” which it is. That’s all I said. I called it “absurd.” Well, you would have thought I just choked a kitten to death. We ended up in a knock down, drag out shouting match. All because I called her plan to expatriate “absurd.” This is not a healthy environment.
One of us original Kerry Crushers is an Italian-American, the other an Irish-American. So you can rest assured there’s lots of Democrat blood in our lineages. But there’s not one of our grandfathers who would have marched against World War II or carried a sign that said "Get Your Rosaries Out of My Ovaries!"
So where are the normal Democrats? They used to be the party of Jefferson, FDR and John Kennedy. Cool, intelligent customers who controlled (or at least tried to control) events. The current party is the party of MoveOn.org and Michael Moore reactionary nuts.
Joe Lieberman tried to run as a sane Democrat and they laughed him off the stage. Evan Bayh shows some promise. We even believe there is a place for an articulate thoughtful anti-war Democrat to grab the microphone from ranters like Howard Dean and tergiversants like John Kerry and say look, we oppose the war. Here’s why. We respectfully disagree with the President and we’re going to fight like hell. But we’ll always support the will of the people, no matter the outcome.
Instead we get “No War for Oil!” and “Bush Lied!”
We believe ole’ Shrummy is onto something. He has every one of his clients promote a “populist” message … power to the people, peasants with pitchforks, that kind of thing. But there are two fundamental problems with this message.
First, trying to squeeze those messages out of a Massachusetts liberal like John Kerry is a futile effort. Not only does the message not come across, but the guy actually looks ridiculous. And if voters laugh at you, they’re probably not going to vote for you. Kerry’s motto “The Real Deal,” designed to invoke Rooseveltian fairness does not describe a policy or a platform or a reform, but rather Kerry himself. Not very populist … but very self-involved. The Kerry campaign actually sent Jesse Jackson out to tell Appalachians that they screwed up in 2000. “You got your guns, but you lost your jobs and your healthcare,” he said. There’s so much wrong with this, we can’t even begin to help the Democrats.
Shrummy had no better luck with Al Gore, whose message ultimately was - "This is the best economy in American history and I ain’t gonna take it anymore!"
Shrummy and the Dems need a real Mid-Western moderate who can sell this message with sincerity.
The second problem is the modern Left’s fundamental lack of understanding of Populism. The great populist politicians in history mixed economic radicalism (socialism, really) with hardcore Evangelical righteousness. The greatest Populist of them all William Jennings Bryan is known for two things … his Socialist/Christian “Cross of Gold Speech” and for defending creationism in the Scopes Monkey Trial. Today’s “populists” have all the socialism and none of the Christian indignation.
And so that Christian indignation, which is a very real element in the American character, is sated by President George W. Bush’s “Compassionate Conservatism.” And don’t let any Lefty tell you no such thing exists. Groups like Shared Hope International fight sexual slavery in the Third World through government grants provided by George W. Bush’s Republican Party.
These used to be Democrat issues! The Dems used to be the party to turn to when America was feeling especially generous and neighborly. No longer. The modern Democrat Party not only refused to support an effort to remove a bloody tyrant from power in a Fourth World sand pile, they then slandered the American president who made it happen. How many millions breathe free now because the US of A took a stand? And still the Democrats don’t get it. FDR understood it. Shoot, Clinton understood it!
And so the Democrat Party is adrift. And while we aren’t popping our corks yet in this 2004 election, we are getting ready for the party. There is little hope in the near future for the party of Jefferson, Jackson, FDR, and John Kennedy. They will almost certainly nominate Hillary Clinton for President in 2008; not exactly the model of Middle America populist values. So we’re unlikely to see a “good” Democrat (think Zell Miller) emerge until at least 2012. And by then the GOP may have a permanent hold on the institutions of government.
Ping. And check out the site to see how we scooped the Washington Post, who devoted their lead story on the tensions in the Kerry campaign - which we reported yesterday.
They are now Republicans.
Their hate for President Bush has destroyed all the sanity that they may have had.
They switched parties.
In order to do this they'll have to divorce themselves from the loose assemblage of whack-jobs that comprise their current base.
They quit the dem party and became the dreaded "neocons!!!" LOL!
Indeed, what HAS happened to them?
FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, LBJ: they took it to the enemy everywhere. FDR had to overcome the REPUBLICAN Isolationists.
Of course, even the wooden-headed Republican Isolationists at least woke up after Pearl Harbor. Wish I could say the same thing for my Dems post-September 11th.
The last Democrat of that line seems to have been...Ronald Reagan!
And he had to switch to the Republicans in order to remain an FDR Democrat.
Makes you weep.
You are right!!! This is not the year. If the American voters have any brains at all they will vote, not only to defeat John Kerry and John Edwards (Where is Mr. Edwards these days?), but they will vote out every Democrat that holds office. This current "traitor"911 causing Democrat party needs to be destroyed, so that it can be rebuilt from the ground up!!!! We do need a vaible "two" party system in the USA to keep things competitive, but we do not need a party that hates America and roots for our enemies!!! Folks, vote on November 2nd to re-elect GW Bush and destroy the Democrat Party!!!
I dont know where they are... but the last time I heard a "good" one speak, besides Sen Zell Miller of course, was when Sam Nunn took on Clinton over gays in the military..
"Tergiversants"? Crush, you've listened to one too many Kerry speeches! Step awaaaaaaaaaaaay from the TV. Put down the remote...
No such animal.
When will these people learn?
No such animal.
Let me further clarify. Zell Miller is really a Republican.
The sane ones came over to our side after 9/11.
The ones who are rabid rats at this time are beyond redemption. They are vile haters of America and our President. Blather and the NOTNEWS wing of CBS are prime examples of the current rabid rat pack.
It is my theory that the Democratic Party is going the way of the Wigs, and because so many moderate Democrats have joined the Republican party the very nature of Republican are also changing.
As soon as I know the Democrat Party is dead for good, I will be willing to move to a more conservative party, but until then I do not want to weaken the Republicans.
Maybe we need a Free Republic party.
Umm, Zell Miller spoke at the Republicans' convention, Joe Leiberman was trounced in the primaries for having the audacity to discuss national security, and Evan Bayh shows up on Fox once in a while. Other than that, what sane Democrats are there?
They're mad as Zell.
The democratic party has been hijacked by socialists - not those Roosevelt democrats who were progressive - I mean regressive socialists, period.
Unfortunately, their destructive and short-sighted mindset, if you can call it that, perpetuates itself very effectively via the ignorance of their support base.
Sheep. Nothing but sheep.
Sane Democrat = oxymoron
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.