Cooter's Advice to Dr. Dean on Military Outreach

Trentino's Magazine ^ | March 7, 2005 | Cooter Thompson

[Davis]

Dear Mr. Beinart:

Surely, since you are Editor of a prestigious political journal, The New Republic, you regularly peruse a number of public affairs blogs on the Internet so you must be aware that I am the designated letter for the guys down to Daryl's Bait Shop here in Lagniappe, Louisiana.

My e-mails since May of last year, mostly to Senator Kerry advising him on tactics and strategies have been published on many Internet sites, although we must admit that there is no evidence that our suggestions have been acted on.

We—most particularly, Smilin' Jack Boudreau and Armen Yazoo—have encountered pieces by you giving advice to the Democratic Party on how to defeat the Republicans. Some weeks ago we noticed that you advocated reading out of your ranks the Lefties whose calendars stopped on September 10, 2001. Probably good advice, because they certainly don't add to the likelihood of electoral victory in 2006 or any time soon.

Just the other day we read online an essay by you in the Washington Post wherein you give advice to Dr. Howard Dean, now the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, concerning going after the votes of military folk and veterans. You point to the fact that they constitute a considerable quantity of voters who usually vote overwhelmingly for Republicans. You suggest that the Dems follow the example of Karl Rove's "relentless" outreach to black and Hispanic voters.

You do not reveal in your WaPo essay the mechanics of Rovian outreach to blacks and Hispanics beyond having Republican operatives show up at black churches and seek the embrace of black pastors, and producing some small number of voter advertisements in Spanish. You correctly describe the effort as combating the Republican image vis a vis blacks and Hispanics.

Armen Yazoo reminds me that appointing Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court and using the talents of Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice at the highest levels of government may have had some impact. Indeed, dealing with blacks and Hispanics as capable non-victims may have done the deed of garnering their votes.

So we fail to see the connection between the two situations. It is not as far as we Daryl's regulars can see a matter of anti-military image. It is true that the Left is actually anti-military and has been so for decades. It's a matter of substance, the Dems' anti-military position, not a matter of a false image that can be corrected by repeating "strong" and "strength" in Mr. Kerry's acceptance speech.

Here is how a candidate earns a merit badge from the Democratic honchos at the ADA. Vote against military expenditures. Belittle Ronald Reagan for "Star Wars" missile defense. Propose US unilateral disarmament. Toss your medals and ribbons over the fence and declare that our military forces are thugs, torturers, war criminals, and baby-killers.

Here in Lagniappe we know somewhat about military service. It's not that we're all gung-ho Medal of Honor winners, but we have immense respect for our military. Many of us have served and have got kinfolk who are serving today.

We are Americans, citizens of the U S of A, and we don't vote simply as military people or as veterans. We are people with some first hand experience of how the world works. We don't dwell in ivy-covered towers. We aren't likely to fall for propaganda by those who think themselves our intellectual superiors crooning kind words to us while crossing their fingers. They may hope we won't cotton to their real beliefs. That would be about as effective as announcing your Party is out for the votes of rednecks with Confederate decals on their pickup trucks, like Dr. Dean said when he was still a Presidential candidate.

True, Mr. Beinart, you do propose a substantive change in your Party's anti-military posture. You ask that Dr. Dean tour the country and beg colleges to allow ROTC to operate on their sacred premises. Not a bad idea, but surely not enough. It is, as you correctly note, just a short hop from anti-military to anti-US and so not a good election strategy.

As a matter of plain fact, you yourself display a negative attitude toward America and its military. The New York Times Book Review for Sunday, March 6, publishes an account of a Roundtable of Lefty celebs, Michael Tomasky of Bill Moyers The American Prospect, Katrina vanden Heuvel of that lodestar of the Left, The Nation, and yourself.

Alas, the Roundtable must have taken place some weeks ago, that is, before the NYTimes itself discovered to its astonishment that the Bush doctrine and our military forces have worked wonders in the Mideast. But word of the Times' astonishment didn't reach you in time. Here's what you said at that Roundtable.

There is no question that the war is going very, very badly.... I would just add that the Bush administration's guiding principle is a belief in military power, not a belief in human rights and democracy.

In the light of that stunning statement, why in the world would you think Dr. Dean, the DNC, and us Dairy's Bait Shop regulars have anything to learn from you on election strategy or anything else?

Sincerely,

Cooter (with the help of J. Boudreau, A. Yazoo, and A. Trentino)

[Neil E. Wright]

Nice post. Thanks.

±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

[Eastbound]

Yes, nice post. Strange how the dems (the anti-freedom, anti-American cult) can go on stumbling through politics, unaware of that they lost all their feathers and are naked as jaybirds, holding only the joker. (52 cards short of a full deck.)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!