When Obstruction Replaces Vision
If you can believe an article by Ronald Brownstein in today's Los Angeles Times, the Democratic Party is the party of Rip Van Winkle, which has just now awoke from a coma to find themselves on the outside looking in. Apparently losing the House and Senate for 10 years, and the last two presidential elections, was not enough to shake them into reality. But now, with George Bush not following historical precedent and instead launching the most ambitious second-term in memory, they are wide awake and desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
This catharsis must be very difficult for the Democrats, who imagine themselves as the rightful heir to political power and dominance, as they had been for many years during and after FDR. Simon Rosenthal, president of the New Democratic Network, and a challenger to Howard Dean for leadership of the Democratic National Committee, says "What's going on is Democrats are coming to recognize and accept that we are not the majority party anymore". How perceptive. You can almost see the tears streaming down his face as he weeps into a blue handkerchief. Even more amusing is the Times description of his organization as "centrist", which really means they only support taking most of your money and killing most of the babies. But you have to give him credit for this revelation. Acknowledging reality is the first step to recovery.
Since Democrats believe that the space-time continuum is threatened without them in power, and are willing to jettison any cooperation with the administration in order to regain it, their plan is very simple: obstruction and rampant partisanship. But exit polls during the last election reveal self-identified conservatives outnumbered liberals 3 to 2, so this strategy may be yet another major mistake made by the party, such as the last fatal boner of nominating a radical war protestor to run against a strong war president. Not to be dissuaded, Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, hopes to motivate the militant base of the party, and "give it a backbone". Those are thinly camouflaged code-words for "Stop Bush at any cost". Such positioning will undoubtedly serve to energize the party's core, namely Bush-haters and election conspiracy buffs, and will certainly compel frenzied supporters of MoveOn.org to actively contribute funds to push this combative agenda. That is one reason you see timid Harry Reid out front with this grid-lock policy, standing shoulder to shoulder with Barbara Boxer and Edward Kennedy. He is well aware of who is currently funding his party, and it is not the moderates.
However, most of America, including the few remaining rational Democrats, are squeamish when it comes to obstruction, and tend to reject those who are perceived to practice it, regardless of party affiliation. But this party is banking that America will look the other way, this time. With the coming coronation of Howard Dean to represent the face of the Democratic Party as head of the DNC, the Democrats have firmly planted themselves far lefter than at any time in history, and apparently have no agenda except to stop Bush. Politically, this move is confounding, to say the least. It would be like the Republicans making Bob Dornan the head of the RNC, and no more palatable to the mainstream.
Through the fog, a few-clear thinkers recognize the futility of this path. Former Democratic Representative Timothy Roemer of Indiana, who was slapped down in his bid for DNC chair by party extremists intolerant of his "radical" pro-life position, says that "we will always be a minority party if we cannot say where we want to take America in the future and have a positive and optimistic vision". Try telling that to Howard Dean.
In spite of all this, George Bush and the Republicans continue to push successfully forward with a strong agenda, which also must drive the Democrats crazy. They have dug their heels in the sand, and the President just steps around them at every turn. While Democratic leadership hovers around a statue of long-dead FDR on the Washington Mall, Bush takes his Social Security reform show on the road, putting pressure on Democratic senators from red states. On the floor of the Senate, after much haranguing and political showmanship, both Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales were confirmed by comfortable margins. Just this week, Congress was in the process of giving the president another legislative victory on tort reform, over Democratic objection. And, more ominously for the obstructionist, Senate leadership is moving towards changing the rules controlling filibusters, ultimately requiring a simple majority to end debate on judicial nominations. Things don't look so optimistic for the minority party.
With Republicans optimistically looking to 2006 to shore up an even bigger majority in Congress, including a good shot at taking the seat now held by Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton, don't look for Democratic fortunes to improve much prior to the next presidential election. Without a vision of their own, they will have nothing to sell the American people except resentment and animosity, for which there are very few takers.
This catharsis must be very difficult for the Democrats, who imagine themselves as the rightful heir to political power and dominance, as they had been for many years during and after FDR. Simon Rosenthal, president of the New Democratic Network, and a challenger to Howard Dean for leadership of the Democratic National Committee, says "What's going on is Democrats are coming to recognize and accept that we are not the majority party anymore". How perceptive. You can almost see the tears streaming down his face as he weeps into a blue handkerchief. Even more amusing is the Times description of his organization as "centrist", which really means they only support taking most of your money and killing most of the babies. But you have to give him credit for this revelation. Acknowledging reality is the first step to recovery.
Since Democrats believe that the space-time continuum is threatened without them in power, and are willing to jettison any cooperation with the administration in order to regain it, their plan is very simple: obstruction and rampant partisanship. But exit polls during the last election reveal self-identified conservatives outnumbered liberals 3 to 2, so this strategy may be yet another major mistake made by the party, such as the last fatal boner of nominating a radical war protestor to run against a strong war president. Not to be dissuaded, Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, hopes to motivate the militant base of the party, and "give it a backbone". Those are thinly camouflaged code-words for "Stop Bush at any cost". Such positioning will undoubtedly serve to energize the party's core, namely Bush-haters and election conspiracy buffs, and will certainly compel frenzied supporters of MoveOn.org to actively contribute funds to push this combative agenda. That is one reason you see timid Harry Reid out front with this grid-lock policy, standing shoulder to shoulder with Barbara Boxer and Edward Kennedy. He is well aware of who is currently funding his party, and it is not the moderates.
However, most of America, including the few remaining rational Democrats, are squeamish when it comes to obstruction, and tend to reject those who are perceived to practice it, regardless of party affiliation. But this party is banking that America will look the other way, this time. With the coming coronation of Howard Dean to represent the face of the Democratic Party as head of the DNC, the Democrats have firmly planted themselves far lefter than at any time in history, and apparently have no agenda except to stop Bush. Politically, this move is confounding, to say the least. It would be like the Republicans making Bob Dornan the head of the RNC, and no more palatable to the mainstream.
Through the fog, a few-clear thinkers recognize the futility of this path. Former Democratic Representative Timothy Roemer of Indiana, who was slapped down in his bid for DNC chair by party extremists intolerant of his "radical" pro-life position, says that "we will always be a minority party if we cannot say where we want to take America in the future and have a positive and optimistic vision". Try telling that to Howard Dean.
In spite of all this, George Bush and the Republicans continue to push successfully forward with a strong agenda, which also must drive the Democrats crazy. They have dug their heels in the sand, and the President just steps around them at every turn. While Democratic leadership hovers around a statue of long-dead FDR on the Washington Mall, Bush takes his Social Security reform show on the road, putting pressure on Democratic senators from red states. On the floor of the Senate, after much haranguing and political showmanship, both Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales were confirmed by comfortable margins. Just this week, Congress was in the process of giving the president another legislative victory on tort reform, over Democratic objection. And, more ominously for the obstructionist, Senate leadership is moving towards changing the rules controlling filibusters, ultimately requiring a simple majority to end debate on judicial nominations. Things don't look so optimistic for the minority party.
With Republicans optimistically looking to 2006 to shore up an even bigger majority in Congress, including a good shot at taking the seat now held by Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton, don't look for Democratic fortunes to improve much prior to the next presidential election. Without a vision of their own, they will have nothing to sell the American people except resentment and animosity, for which there are very few takers.
posted by Mark Outland at 2:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home