The Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party

The Democrats have found their solution to their problem: they belong at Applebee’s. It is a bit laughable, but it also does point out the fundamental conflict looming within the Democratic Party – how this conflict is resolved will go a long way towards determining if the Democratic Party will revive itself over the next two decades or whether it will fade completely and be replaced by new political combinations.
An interesting article over at MSNBC takes a look at this issue. The whole thing is worth a read, but this part struck me as particularly important:

One veteran Democratic strategist, Clinton White House political director Doug Sosnik, sums up the answer in one word: Applebeeís.
For Sosnik, the chain of modestly priced restaurants (more than 1,600 in 49 states), symbolizes precisely what is wrong with the partyís Washington-based elite.
Democratic leaders are out of touch with the American people, Sosnik said in a panel discussion Tuesday sponsored by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).
ìThe leadership of our party has a cultural disconnect,î Sosnik said. ìOur leaders ó particularly Washington, D.C.-based ó donít really have the same life, day to day, as all those people out there in those red states. We donít eat at the same restaurants. I donít know how many politicians in town that are leaders of our party who voluntarily go to Applebeeís, unless itís for work. You look at the swing voters out there, what their sporting events are, the music they listen to, the celebrities, the television programs, itís just not what the East Coast leadership (watches) ó itís not quite where we are.î
“Talk about Applebee’s, we don’t even go to the Cracker Barrels and the Dennyís as well,” added Donna Brazile, who served as Al Gore’s campaign manager in 2000.
Sosnik said, ìWe canít figure out a better way to sell to those people ó weíve got to be more like them.î Being ìmore like themî requires finding Democratic leaders from small-town and rural America.

This is at least an acknowledgement that the Democratic Party is out of step with the broad mass of the American people – but the Donk’s get even better at it:

ìLetís let Hollywood and the Cannes Film Festival fawn all over Michael Moore. We ought to make it clear he sure doesnít speak for us when it comes to standing up for our country,î Marshall said.
ìDemocrats have to make it very clear to the electorate that we believe that America is essentially a force for good in the world,î he argued.
ìSometimes in our zeal to condemn Bush policy, we can go overboard in ways that really make them wonder whose side weíre on,î he said. ìIt is one thing to say the war in Iraq was a mistake; thatís a legitimate position held by many thoughtful people. Itís another thing to say itís an expression of some grasping new American imperialism, some kind of plot to grab Middle East oil or, even more ludicrously, all just about putting more money into Halliburton.î

We can see here that sensible Democrats have identified their problem and have hit upon the ultimate solution – but my view is that they are currently incapable of acting upon their knowledge. Our Democrats, just like the Republicans of the 1930’s, are out of power – but they held power for so long that they cannot get over the fact that they’ve lost it. It’s time for the Democrats to think anew and act anew – and their first act must be a purge of the radical left from their ranks. As long as the Democrats remain a Party which welcomes a Michael Moore or a George Soros so will the Democrats remain a Party on the margins of power – they may, from time to time, capture the White House, but they cannot become the majority American Party when a good third of their rank-and-file is anti-American in attitude.
I actually wish the DLC-types all the luck in the world – American is much more healthy when it has two roughly equally competitive political Parties offering alternate visions for the United States. This state of affairs tends to lead to the best practical solutions to whatever problems the nation faces. Unfortunately, I don’t see in the DLC Democrats the courage to purge their Party – the courage, that is, to say “we’re out of power for ten or twenty years so let’s work for the future by first cutting the dead wood of the past”. Better for the Democrats to lose 50 seats in the House and have no chance of winning the White House in 2008 and 2012 than to keep their coalition together with the radical left – because the radical left is poisoning American politics, and the radical left ensures that there is no viable alternative to the Republicans at election time.
Hat Tip: Dean’s World

Rounding Up Wednesday at the DNC

Written by guest blogger Steven Taylor of PoliBlog.

THE BIG STORIES FROM WEDNESDAY

• Kerry rides a Swift Boat water taxi into town: Kerry Returns to Boston With ‘Band of Brothers’.
• Said the BoGlo: An election with echoes of the ’60s.
• Viet Nam Fatigue? Writes Kevin Drum:
  

  It turns out that even my wife is tired of hearing the electrifying news that John Kerry volunteered to go to Vietnam after he finished college. I know why it’s being done, and I’m sure it’s a good idea and all, but I have to admit that they’ve been laying it on pretty thick tonight.

THE SPEECHES

• If you are looking for full texts, excerpts and video of the speeches, go Accidental Verbosity has a Blogospheric round-up of convention reactions.

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Little John in the Spotlight

Ok, so today I was at work as usual and while listening to the radio, accidentally stumbled across NPR at the same time that John Edwards was giving his acceptance speech. My first impression, after listening for about five minutes was, “this is the best they’ve got?” Seriously. I was expecting a bit of a barn-burner of a populist speech to rile up the assembled Democrats – what I heard was pablum; one platitude after another with no thought or philosophy behind it. Perhaps it was better on TV, but on the radio he came across as an empty suit with a southern accent.
Lets take a look at the actual speech. Early on, John Edwards brings us the surprising news that I’m sure will shock you – John Kerry served in Vietnam! No, really; I don’t know how he kept it secret so long, but there it is – and here’s what Edwards had to say about it:

If you have any question about what heís made of, you need to spend three minutes with the men who served with him then and stand by him today.

Unfortunately, I’ve got my own things to do but Dean Esmay helps us out here. Remember that photo of Kerry with his swift-boat crewmen? Well, there’s this interesting bit about that photo:

Of the {20} men in that photo, two of them support Kerry’s candidacy: Skip Barker and Ralph Dobson, who also have been campaigning with Kerry and doing commercials for him. Two others are dead. Four have refused to make any public statement. The remaining men have all stated flatly that Kerry is unfit to serve as Commander In Chief.
Got that? Most of the guys in that photo are either dead or find Kerry despicable.

So, I guess it depends on which men you spend that three minutes with – but you have to be careful, because you’ve only got a one in ten chance that you’ll meet up with a Kerry shipmate who thinks that Kerry should be President.
John Edwards goes on to talk about how Kerry is running a positive, optimistic campaign for President – thus proving there really is nothing a lawyer wont say in front of a jury. He does ask, as a tag line, if we’re sick of the negative attacks – unfortunately, he’s not asking if we’re sick of the negative attacks by Democrats, but only if we’re sick of some sort of mythical negative attacks against Kerry (I guess questions from Kerry about President Bush’s National Guard service just slipped Edwards’ mind).
In keeping with the Kerry/Edwards positive, optimistic campaign, John Edwards had this little gem:

And you know what Iím saying. You donít need me to explain it to you, you knowóyou canít save any money, can you? Takes every dime you make just to pay your bills, and you know what happens if something goes wrongóa child gets sick, somebody gets laid off, or thereís a financial problem, you go right off the cliff.
And whatís the first thing to go. Your dreams.

Got that? He’s positively optimistic that if we run into a little personal financial trouble, then “off the cliff” is right where we go…guess I should have known this when during the late bathroom remodel, with all the funds committed to it, the car broke down and needed $500 worth of repairs…instead of dealing with it and working it out, I should have jumped off a cliff somewhere.
This gets into the real view the Democratic elite has of us – we’re a bunch of weak-willed dolts who simply cannot get through life without our superiors in the Democratic Party holding our hand for us. You can have it, if you want; as for me, I’m voting for President Bush if for no other reason than he looks upon me as a capable adult who can look after himself.
Hat Tip: Dean Esmay and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

John Kerry and John Edwards Have a Sugar Daddy

Boston, We have a Problem, No itís not that silly suit Kerry was seen wearing. This is a Money problem.
ABC News is reporting that Kerry-Edwards 2004 single biggest contributor has ties to the Mob.

He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them.
“To most of the people who track money and politics, they’re like, who the hell is Steve Bing?” said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization.

Of course the DNC just canít recall knowing about any of this.

Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing’s friend and business partner ó Dominic Montemarano, a New York Mafia figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.
Montemarano has a long criminal record and is known to organized crime investigators by his street name, Donnie Shacks.

By the looks of it, Bing appears to be a ìfixerî of sorts. He gets the call when his Mob buddies are in need of monetary help. Bing also is close to Kerry and Edwards. He’s not just a name on a call sheet.

after a recent private lunch with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Edwards, Bing also declined to answer questions about his relationship with Montemarano.

Since these questions had been asked with Edwards around, you would have to wonder if he had any questions of his own? Turns out that he did not. Millions of dollars make for very good ear plugs it seems.

The True Face of the Party

As Americans are subjected to what amounts to political Three Card Monty on the convention floor, the Real face of the Democrat Party can be heard in Boston this week.
Tiaís on the waterfront hosted some of the real faces of John Kerryís party for a Democratic Action luncheon. This is the place to be, if you really want to hear what John Kerry has in mind.

Rep. Jerome Nadler, D-N.Y., warned that if Mr. Bush is re-elected and appoints conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court, “You will not have liberty in this country,” and compared some Bush policies to those of King George III. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., warned of an impending draft.

This is the same canard, Election after Election it seems. The play book never changes.
On the other side of the convention center you have pro-Kerry troop “Billionaires for Bush” marching up and down accusing President Bush of maintaining a climate of fear. I guess they missed the fact that a real ìBillionaire for Kerry” spoke during prime time last night. Unlike most evil, rotten Billionaires, this one spoke in five languages.
Then we have the real warm and fuzzy Dems. They have been asking the Press,

ìwhy the press wasn’t talking more about the Bush daughters’ legal troubles, a fatal care accident involving Laura Bush and purported flaws in the president’s father’s war record.

But at least we have honesty around Fleet center. Ernie Esposito, a delegate from Johnston, Pa. was asked if ìhe hates President Bush? “Absolutely,”
So there you have it. The Dems are still Dems. Hate filled and without any idea of the dangers we face in todayís world.

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