What Should We Think Part II

Earlier we watched the Democrats stumble around trying to decide what to think. Today they have a plan. It's not so much a plan of what to do for America, but more of a plan of how to damage the President some more. Back in 2000 (well 2001 by the time it was over), Nancy Pelosi declared, in defeat, that her party had not mobilized the base enough. In real language, what that means is the the Democrats had not scared enough old people, inflamed enough black people nor had they purchased or created enough votes from thin air, such as bussing homeless people into the polls and giving them a pack of cigarettes in exchange for voting straight down the democrat side of the ballot. That is mobilizing the base for the Left. (Mobilising the base for the Right includes similar methods but aimed at different demographics. The Republicans used the Gay Marriage issue to get the religious right out in droves, and Rove and Co. are not above buying votes, they generally pay better too.)

Al Gore won more votes than any one in history to that point. The arguement for "mobilizing the base" seemed to be a waste of good air. What the left needed to do was actaully educate their "mobilized" base. Throughout Florida on electin day 2000, tens of thousands of people were "confused" by the Butterfly ballot, the Caterpillar ballot, and the whole idea of actaully reading the ballot in front of them. America, it seems, had the choice of having a President selected by the Supreme Court, or having a President thrust to power on the shoulders of voters too lazy, or just incapable of reading and following directions.

Other problems in 2000 cost Gore votes too, but he would have been President if his supporters had actually cared about the voters they pushed to the polls. The Democrats could have taught people how to vote correctly and set them free to exercise their most important duty. But instead the Left was happy to have as many warm bodies as possible punching chads hither and yon. This microcosm describes politicians to a tee. They do not see us as people, but only as a means to power. No matter the rhetoric about how much they care, each of us is just a stepping stone to power for a memeber of the political elite. The last thing they want us to be is educated. If you don't believe that, take a look at our government school system.

Back to the Democrats trying to think of something to think. The very idea that anyone could make it to the national stage in Washington DC without having any kind of ideas or mindset is ludicrous. Certainly, everyone already knows what they think. What the Democrats are having a hard time doing is putting a pretty face on what it is that they do think. How much should they show us? What is a nice short phrase to encapsulate their message?

They have already done that. The Democrats have their message, it is "We Hate Bush". Their message hasn't changed in six years, and it is unlikely to change during the next two. A few will remember the Crest Toothpaste commercials from the 1970s. The "Cavity Creeps" were a nasty mob of tooth destroyers with a simple but effective motto: "We - make - holes - in - teeth!". They were out to destroy Toothopolis. The Crest Team came to save the day. The Demo-creep's mantra "We Make Holes in Bush", while just as focused as the Crest villians, will not be as effective. Mainly because Americans have different benchmarks for choosing their Presidents and choosing their oral hygiene products. The Democrats should consider standing for something before Rove tricks them further out of power. Bush is the straw man. The Left can attack him all they want, it just will not matter.

There was another way that Gore could have won in 2000. Had he been the actual incumbant, the President for a year, it is likely he would have won easily, assumiing, of course, that he had not been a total disaster during his post Clinton impeachment mini-term. The Democrats fought so hard to save Clinton they never considered the benefit of appearing to care about morals and having a man running for President who would have had his own record in that office on which to campaign.

Until the Democratic Party brings some actual ideas to the table, their cause is lost. Much like the Clinton impeachment fight, the worst thing that can happen to the Democrats is, unfortunately for them, the thing they are fighting the hardest for; regaining power in either the Senate or the House. America does not want two more years like the end of the Clinton reign, which is exactly what we would get if the Democrats got any control of the Legislative Branch. Two years of impeachment proceedings would not help the Democrats win the Presidency in 2008. They are, it seems, content to waste their political capital refighting 2000 by denigrating Bush. Here's a news flash for the Democrats; George W. Bush will not be running for re-election in 2008. Give the rest of us a reason to vote FOR you, not simply AGAINST the other guys.