Damn Dirty Democrats

The Weekly Standard ^ | 11/04/2002 | Jonathan V. Last

[Pokey78]

Once the party of hope and idealism, the Democrats are now the party of dirty tricks.

A DEFINING MOMENT isn't about reality, it's about unconscious public perception. For example: Dan Quayle will forever be remembered for his "misspelling" of the word potato, not because it was an important event, but because the public already suspected he might be a dummy. John Ashcroft will forever be a religious nut because the curtain over the boob symbolized what people suspected--that he was a little too devout for centrist America. Never mind that Quayle is both bright and capable or that Ashcroft isn't a Wahhabi nutcase (or that he never asked for the curtain). Those caricatures are now cut into stone.

And so it may be for the Democratic party today. For two generations Democrats have coasted on the caricatures established by FDR and JFK. The Democrat from Central Casting was a slightly corrupt, slightly dopey do-gooder with stars in his eyes and gold in his heart. But a new Democratic caricature emerged this fall: One of the power-obsessed politician who will do anything to win.

Just consider the face of the Democratic party over the last few months:

-In South Dakota this fall, Democrats have pushed heavy voter-registration drives with Indians. So heavy, in fact, that lots of dead Native Americans signed up. State and federal authorities are investigating.

-In a September memo from the Detroit mayor's office, it was revealed that Detroit has 600,000 registered voters, only about 450,000 of which are legitimate. And you can bet those phantom voters haven't been trending Republican.

-In New Jersey, Democrats stood behind embattled senator Robert Torricelli, despite the fact that he was under federal investigation. Until he fell behind GOP challenger Doug Forrester in the polls. On the last day of September, Dems pushed Torricelli aside and brought in replacement candidate Frank Lautenberg, even though the law clearly stated that it was too late for a substitution. Democrats broke the law because, they insisted, New Jersey's citizens were entitled to a choice between major-party candidates. (In a related story, Democrats declined to field a candidate against Republican Virginia senator John Warner since Warner looked so formidable in early polling.)

-At a September debate in Maryland between the candidates for lieutenant governor, supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend passed out Oreo cookies to mock black Republican hopeful Michael Steele. At another debate that month, between Townsend and Republican Bob Ehrlich, Democrats also passed out Oreos--and then led the crowd in raucous booing of Ehrlich's wife and elderly parents. Afterwards, Democrats keyed the cars of several Ehrlich supporters.

-During October in Montana, Democratic senator Max Baucus ran an ad not-so-subtly insinuating that his opponent, Mike Taylor, was gay--closing the attack spot by saying darkly, "Mike Taylor. Not the way we do business in Montana."

-In an October debate in South Carolina, Democrat Senate candidate Alex Sanders attacked Lindsay Graham for having Rudy Giuliani stump for him. About Giuliani, Sanders said, "His wife kicked him out and he moved in with two gay men and a Shih Tzu. Is that South Carolina values? I don't think so."

-A few days ago in Hawaii, GOP gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, who's running neck-and-neck with her Democratic opponent, became the target of a whispering campaign claiming that she, too, is homosexual.

-In Iowa, Tom Harkin spent autumn in Tape-gate. As the Washington Post explained, "Harkin's campaign provided a digital recorder to a former Harkin aide to take to a Sept. 3 strategy session of the Ganske campaign, to which the former aide had been invited. The campaign then leaked a copy of the recording to an Iowa reporter. Harkin's campaign staff first denied any involvement, then admitted to it. Harkin dumped his campaign manager and fired a young, low-level aide, whom the campaign said was solely responsible for getting the former Harkin aide, Brian Conley, to record the session."

-And then, of course, there was the Wellstone affair last week (see the above now-famous photo). At the memorial service Democrats whipped the crowd into a partisan fervor, chanted "We Will Win," and generally had a rollicking good time while the 20,000 attendees booed Wellstone's Republican colleagues who had come to pay their respects.

The Democrats haven't just become Nixon, they've become the exaggerated liberal nightmare version of Nixon: Today Democrats are what they believe Nixon was.

The change didn't happen overnight. For a couple years now--since 1992ish, to be more exact--Democrats have been showing signs of a desperate, win-at-any-cost mentality. It started with Clinton's women and then his fund-raising and impeachment. It carried over to Gore's challenge to the 2000 election and Tom Daschle's unprecedented obstruction of George W. Bush's judicial nominees.

(As a side note, last Friday on Blanquita Cullum and Janet Donovan's radio show, "The Beltway Broads," I asked Orrin Hatch if there was any weight to the charge that Republicans had been just as bad with Clinton's nominees. The straight-laced Mormon said those arguments are "pure B.S." Also, he interestingly noted that "we may get one or two [Supreme Court] nominees before the end of the year.")

None of this has been lost on the public. And the angry chants and rabid cheering from the Wellstone "memorial" may have provided the Democrats with a new defining moment. Once the party of JFK and FDR, the Democrats are now the party of dirty tricks.

[Las Vegas Dave]

ping..........

[Leisler]

Living on Cape Cod, I can also recommend senility as a cause. All those shuffling, drooling democrats mumbling about FDR and how JFK…

[Claire Voyant]

The Democrats even KEYED Republicans cars!!!! That is EXACTLY why I don't have a bumper sticker on my car.....the Corrupt Democrats would Key it. Sicko Party.

[The Raven]

>>Today Democrats are what they believe Nixon was.

So true!

But the voter fraud thing seems like something we can fix. I think it's something we should make a lot of noise about.

How to do that? Any ideas?

[MadIvan]

I liked what P.J. O'Rourke once said about his grandmother, "She never used the word 'Democrat' in the house, she used the word 'bastards' instead."

My feelings precisely. Even the Labour Party has some good, if misguided, people. Apart from Zell Miller and David Schippers, I can't think of ANY in the Democrat party.

Regards, Ivan

[Cold Heat]

How to do that? Any ideas?

More articles like this one!

Mention the words democrat and voter fraud every chance to get to anyone you talk to!

[Happygal]

I liked what P.J. O'Rourke once said about his grandmother, "She never used the word 'Democrat' in the house, she used the word 'bastards' instead."

Gotta love that Irish sense of humour :-)

[MadIvan]

Gotta love that Irish sense of humour :-)

And now PJ is doing adverts for British Airways over here. Is that part of the Irish sense of humour too, darling? ;)

Love, Ivan

[Happygal]

And now PJ is doing adverts for British Airways over here. Is that part of the Irish sense of humour too, darling? ;)

Probably more to do with shrewd business sense :-)

[gunnedah]

SINCE BILL AND HILLARY ,The "DEMONCRATS" will never be the same.Now I know why my old Grandma use to say "Whoa Be Unto Lawyers!"

[Maelstrom]

You have to study history well to find a parallel:

The Weihmar Republic

[RippleFire]

BUMP

[ctnoell]

The best way to show your disgust to the Democrats (besides voting Republican), is to donate to Republican campaigns, candidates, national/state/local Republican organizations. For example, after the Wellstone memorial service/Mondale pep rally, I made a modest donation to the Norm Coleman for Senate campaign (www.colemanforsenate.com) and I live in NC. Fight the Democrats, tooth and nail!

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post, great article. If Mr. Last had shown all of the examples of Democratic Crime Syndicate corruption, his article would have been an A-Z encyclopedia.

[Ditter]

That is the same way I feel about anyone who would admit to being a democrat. Corrupt, stupid or living in the past.

[timydnuc]

Interesting encounter:

I was in my garage refinishing an old chest when a RAT shoved a campaign flier into my front door handle. I was about 8' from him, he could have handed it to me, for crying out loud. He didn't say a word, just looked at me and stumbled on his merry way. I grabbed the flier and quickly read it. I was shocked, so I carefully read it again. It was a flier from Bill "read Lex" Luther. It boldly stated that John Kline (R) was for a national sales tax of 23% on everything. It made NO, 0, nada, mention that that sales tax would replace the federal income tax. Needless to say, I was livid.

As the little RAT was coming down the other side of the street I walked down my driveway and yelled at the SOB, "This is a LIE, do you know you are passing out LIES"? Now, most of my neighbors were doing things around their homes and they bolted straight up and began to look in my direction. They listened as I took issue with this little dweeb. He didn't say a word, he pulled his head into his slumped shoulders and skurried away, like little RATS do when cornered. I'm a pretty big guy, and I have a booming, deep voice, so I was heard all the way around the caldesac. My neighbors and I stood in the middle of the street as I explained the national sales tax idea, truthfully. They were discussed at the flier.

Moral of story: Always confront a RAT and his lies, he will run away like the coward that he is.

OBTW, it was incredible fun!

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The most important factor is that we are "competing" against voters who don't exist.

[jackbill]

And now the Damn Dirty DemocRATs in Maryland are defying the Attorney General (a DemocRAT) and the state prosecutor (a DemocRAT) and will be paying election workers in clear violation of the law.

http://www.sunspot.net/news/elections/bal-te.md.turnout04nov04,0,732693.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

[Joe Brower]

It's gotten so bad that now when I hear someone is a democrat I automatically distrust them. I figure that you have to be either corrupt or incredibly stupid to stay in that party after what they've done these last few years.

Absolutely. You have hit the nail right on the head.

[PhiKapMom]

Thanks for the ping!

My Dad used to call DemocRATs that when I was growing up. He had absolutely no use for any of them after the Kennedy/Nixon election when ballot boxes in Ohio just mysteriously appeared to give Ohio to Kennedy thanks to Cleveland! As the years went on, it has gotten worse.

I grew up with Northern Republicans forming a coaltion with Southern DemocRATs and now that I live below the Mason-Dixon line, those Southern DemocRATs are Republican -- as my Dad would say -- they saw the light!

Everytime I think the Clinton DemocRAT Party cannot sink any lower, it does! They have no moral compass and no ethics at all. Why anyone remains a DemocRAT is beyond me!