Democrats spar in primary debate - Republicans relish '04 contenders' feud in national spotlight

Boston Globe ^ | May 5, 2003 | Wayne Washington

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON - Divisions among Democrats on display during the first presidential primary debate Saturday night delighted Republicans, who hope the party's internal squabbles on national security, health care, and taxes will hobble its nominee and bolster President Bush's chances for reelection.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Democrats debated, and Bush won

Australian Prime Minister John Howard watches as U.S. President George W. Bush picks up his dog Barney after the two leaders held a joint press conference on the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003. Howard and his wife Janette spent the night at the ranch. Bush and Howard met to discuss post war Ira, national security and trade issues. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Kerry said he supported the move to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq but wanted more time for diplomacy. Lieberman was a strong backer of Bush's policy. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio strongly opposed the president's policies, as did Dean. ''I think this was the wrong war at the wrong time,'' Kucinich said.

Nabiha Mohammad Abboud wailed after finding the identity card of her sister, Hayat, at a mass grave site in Hillah. The graves are believed to date to 1991. (Globe Staff Photo/Dominic Chavez)

[Mia T]

 

 

hyperlinked images of shame
copyright Mia T 2003.

by Mia T, 4.6.03

 

If Act I was a thinly veiled allegory about naked clintonism, then Act II is a parable about the plan for world domination by the Establishment, aged hippies in pinstripes all, with their infantile, solipsistic world view amazingly untouched by time.

 

Mia T, THE ALIENS

 

Al From is sounding the alarm. "Unless we convince Americans that Democrats are strong on national security," he warns his party, "Democrats will continue to lose elections."

Helloooo? That the Democrats have to be spoon-fed what should be axiomatic post-9/11 is, in and of itself, incontrovertible proof that From's advice is insufficient to solve their problem.

From's failure to fully lay out the nature of the Democrats' problem is not surprising: he is the guy who helped seal his party's fate. It was his Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) that institutionalized the proximate cause of the problem, clintonism, and legitimized its two eponymic provincial operators on the national stage. The "Third Way" and "triangulation" don't come from the same Latin root for no reason.

That "convince" is From's operative word underscores the Democrats' dilemma. Nine-eleven was transformative. It is no longer sufficient merely to convince. One must demonstrate, demonstrate convincingly, if you will… which means both in real time and historically.

When it comes to national security, Americans will no longer take any chances. Turning the turn of phrase back on itself, the era of the Placebo President is over. (Incidentally, the oft-quote out-of-context sentence fragment alluded to here transformed meaningless clinton triangulation into a meaningful if deceptive soundbite.)

Although From is loath to admit it -- the terror in his eyes belies his facile solution -- the Democratic party's problem transcends its anti-war contingent.

With a philosophy that relinquishes our national sovereignty -- and relinquishes it reflexively… and to the UN no less -- the Democratic party is, by definition, the party of national insecurity.

With policy ruled by pathologic self-interest -- witness the "Lieberman Paradigm," Kerry's "regime change" bon mot (gone bad), Edwards' and the clintons' brazen echoes thereof (or, alternatively, Pelosi's less strident wartime non-putdown putdown)… and, of course, the clincher -- eight years of the clintons' infantilism, grotesquerie and utter failure -- the Democratic party is, historically and in real time, the party of national insecurity.

The Democrats used to be able to wallpaper their national insecurity with dollars and demogoguery. But that was before 9/11.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Although From is loath to admit it.....

From is just plain loathsome.

[PJ-Comix]

Kerry said he supported the move to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq but wanted more time for diplomacy.

MORON! Does Kerry think France would have EVER agreed to take action against Saddam? The fact is the French (and their president) were profiting from Saddam. They NEVER would have agreed to take out Saddam. If Kerry believes we should have waited for "diplomacy" to work by tryng to obtain the French approval which NEVER would have happened then he is an IDIOT and unfit to be president.

If Kerry is the nominee, I hope he is hammered on this point in the general election.

[PJ-Comix]

Why do I get the feeling you were the type of girl in Kindergarten that I used to hate because you did all the creative art projects with paper and crayons while guys like me only got their hands covered with paste while messing up all their projects?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They're all a bunch of liars. That doesn't bother some people. They're the morons.

[RushLake]

You're absolutely right, they are a bunch of liars. The question is how many morons and moron wannabes will fall for those lies in 2004?

An old friend of mine in politics used to make the point that he didn't care what "they" said about him, as long as they spelled and pronounced his name right. His point being that when a lot of the sheeple enter the booth, they look at this list of names, say "oh yeah, I heard of that guy", and pull the lever.

I think the democraps are desperate to get their party and their faces in front of the public and get the public's focus away from Bush. In "04, the alleged grownups of the party will pull things together and come up with what they perceive as a viable contender. A lot of the fluff that people like Gephardt and Dashole peddle sells to the soccer mommies and their limp wristed significant others and other party interest groups. Probably Hitlery's best shot is '04, even the soccer mommies will be turned off by her hideous face by '08. The timing of her book doesn't hurt.

[Mia T]

Your achievements belie your distain for Kindergarten Crayola types.
Why, I'll bet you even had the chunky 64-pack.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

You're spot on. Name recognition is gold at the ballot box. So is public education.
We can't be complaisant. Hopefully, people are more attentive after 9-11.

[ricpic]

Mmmmmm........Chunky Crayolas..........Mmmmmmmm

[Larry Lucido]

Mmmmm. Chunky.

[George W. Bush]

The only chance the Dims have against Bush is if they take a leaf from W.'s playbook and party leaders (governors, legislators) unite behind a candidate in the next six months and round up all the available money and direct it to that candidate.

The chosen candidate then uses the remaining debates as campaign appearances to sharpen his skills, conserving campaign cash for the real battle.

But the Dims will have a much harder time doing that. The structure of their coalition just doesn't work that way.

In the debate, Graham said "My name is Bob Graham and I'm from the electable wing of the Democrat party". There are other indications that the Dim party leaders know that they need to copy Bush's winning strategy, even more since he'll have $200 million instead of $100 million in '04. The problem for the Dims is that their base is so unruly and they have the Green threat as well, something that cost Gore the presidency.

It's very pleasant to watch the enemy destroy themselves.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It's very pleasant to watch the enemy destroy themselves.

Yes. There is justice and it's coming. There is nothing nice about any of these people. Lieberman said he'd like to wring President Bush's neck. And he's the so-called religious one. Woosh!