You see that “D” next to some of the candidates’ names in U.S. elections? I used to think it stood for “Democrat,” but now I figure it has to stand for “Dumb.” You would think a party that supposedly supports the “little guy” against Big Business, Big Oil, Big Money, Big Bombs and Big Lies could not possibly lose an election, yet the Democrats somehow manage to lose time after time.
They do it in many and varied ways. Sometimes they do it by nominating presidential candidates like Eugene McCarthy, Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern, who were obvious losers before they got out of the gate. I guess that’s what they thought they were doing when they nominated Barack Obama, but the flyin’ Hawaiian crossed them up. He won.
Not only that but he has won the hearts and minds of Americans. In a poll released today, his favorable rating is 67 percent.You would think that Democrats in Congress would look at this rating and figure the way to victory in the 2010 elections is by doing whatever the President wants them to do.
But victory seems to be the last thing on those Democrats’ minds. On one hand you’ve got the Blue Dogs digging in their heels – on principle, they claim – and resisting the President’s best efforts to revive the economy. On the other hand you have the Progressives, railing at the President because he won’t do such politically impossible things as close Guantanamo immediately, withdraw all American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan this minute, put George Bush and Dick Cheney in jail, etc., etc.
And then there’s Nancy Pelosi. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard guys on the golf course end some political discussion with “but I can’t stand Nancy Pelosi.” On that they all agree. Her inarticulate explanation of that torture briefing she supposedly received from the CIA has left the House speaker’s credibility in tatters. The most recent poll gives her a rating of 20 percent favorable and 68 percent unfavorable.
But dumb as the Democrats are, they are being out-dumbed by the Republicans this time. Those once-wiley con artists have apparently lost the will to win. The Grand Old Party is suffering from a terminal attack of nostalgia. Gone are the days of male, white dominance. Gone are the days of “what’s good for Big Business is good for America.” Gone are the days when psalm-singing hypocrisy could cover up the slimiest behavior. America is waking up, reveling in its diversity, welcoming women, Hispanics (like Sonia Sotomayor) and blacks (like Obama) into the halls of power. Young people are taking an interest in politics again. And the Grand Old Party just won’t stand for it.
They might as well not stand for election, either. That poll I mentioned shows that while Democrats in Congress have a measly 39 percent favorable rating, their Republican colleagues get only 12 percent. And 41 percent of voters would like to see more Democrats elected in 2010, versus 29 percent for Republicans.
I don’t think even the Democrats could mess this one up. But, just in case, you’d better make sure to vote next fall. You never know what the Democratic leaders might come up with to make them lose this time.
