Put up your dukes, Democrats (Editorial by an ex-advisor to Al Gore)

Newsday ^ | 2/8/06 | ELAINE KAMARCK

[frankjr]

As this week's hearings into President George W. Bush's wiretapping program make all too clear, the war on terror has been running parallel to a war within the Democratic Party.

It's also a war between those who think the Democratic Party has been too quick to accommodate the Bush administration and those who think the Democrats have abandoned the important role of opposition party. The result is a party that all too often seems to be afraid of its own shadow.

Added to this is a near pathological fear of Bush's political adviser Karl Rove. It goes back to the 2002 midterm elections, when Rove performed a nice piece of political jujitsu on the unwitting Democrats by taking their idea - the Department of Homeland Security - and using it to beat the you-know-what out of them.

Now that another election year is upon us, the fear of Rove is back - even though corruption, cronyism and Katrina have combined to erode the Bush administration's popularity. Some Democrats are so freaked by the past they are arguing that members of the party should stay away from one of the biggest issues of the day: the Bush administration's domestic spying operations.

This is a mistake for two reasons. First, if the Democratic leaders stay away from this issue, the activist left will fill the void. The left wing of the party frequently manages to sound weak on defense and weak on terror. Nothing could play more into Rove's hand.

If Democrats get sucked into a debate over tactics in the war on terror, they will lose. But it's hard to see how they lose if they wage the debate over the rule of law and if they show their willingness to amend the law to strengthen the war on terror.

[marron]

The Rovemania is hilarious.

You're right. The Dems get their hats handed to them because they've come out against the war, they've attacked the US at every opportunity, they put up Kerry of all people for their candidate, they've come out in favor of the Katrina mobs, now they've turned Mrs. King's funeral into an embarrassment, and they think Rove is behind their collapse.

[Hillarys nightmare]

"Most important of all, however, is that they take strong positions, grounded in strong values." I wonder which "strong positions" they will choose?

They could assume the position, that because of the administrations questionable NSA wire tappings, it will eventually lead to the targeting of minor girls seeking late term abortions, for the unthinkable purpose of parental notification.

Better still, they may choose to martyr themselves on the issue of our Government's mistreatment of terrorist detainees at Gitmo.(lots of traction here!)

It's for certain, they will continue in their unending "strong" position of undermining Bush, because he's the first Republican who has managed to thrive in spite of everything they have thrown at him.

And that's just a few of the good ole Democrat Values worth standing up, dividing, and destroying America for: And they are so..... "strong", that it's impossible for them to develop new ones!

[Kenny Bunk]

Added to this is a near pathological fear of Bush's political adviser Karl Rove

Which I occasionally share.