Losing to Win?
By Thomas Lindaman (07/05/06)
Are Democrats throwing the 2006 elections? For a while now, I've watched the Democrats enact strategies that make George Custer look like George Patton, and I'll admit I've had my fair share of laughs at their foibles. It's like having my own little colony of Sea Monkeys in suits and pantsuits, but with more of an ability to raise my taxes.
But one day I got to thinking more in depth about the situation and a thought came to me. (Yeah, I know. I was due.) What if the Democrats are trying to lose the midterm elections on purpose? I know it's a freaky idea, but even I can't believe the Democrats are that incompetent, Bob Shrum being rehired as Democrat political strategist in spite of being 0 for the last several elections notwithstanding.
Picture the situation within the Democrat Party right now. There is no real leadership to speak of, and those who are throwing their hats in the ring to be leaders have a whopping zero years of experience being President. The best they can brag is someone who was Vice President for 8 years, but couldn’t win his own state and couldn’t win a recount in Florida. The only thing that seems to unify a lot of them is that they have a lot of experience running for President.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the party leaders keep reacting to the wrong issues while being slow to respond on the right issues. When George W. Bush went to Iraq unexpectedly, the Democrats were slow to respond. Slow, as compared to continental drift, that is. I’m sure they’ll have a response by July. The question is July of what year?
Not to mention, there is massive infighting within the party. Some Democrats, like Al Gore and John Kerry, are trying to stake out the more liberal side of the party as theirs so they can rail against the more moderate to right leaning side of the party, which they and others believe is run by Hillary Clinton. John Murtha and William Jefferson have defied House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in their own ways, while Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid can't muster the votes to censure President Bush. Democrats are even trying to force out long-time Connecticut Senator from Joe Lieberman for the most horrible of crimes, agreeing with the Bush Administration too many times. Oh, horror of horrors!
And to cap it off, their strategy to retake the House, which has been promised since November of 2005, has come out and focuses on…nothing on the minds of the electorate right now. A proposal to give everyone low cost health care instead of a plan to fight the terrorists who want us dead? If that proposal alone isn’t enough to convince you that the Democrats are trying to lose on purpose, I don’t know what would.
But what would be gained by the Democrats throwing the midterm elections? Two words: party unity. Right now, Democrats are more splintered than a balsa wood all-you-can-eat-for-a-nickel restaurant within feet of Michael Moore’s house. If they lose the midterm elections, I believe it will force Democrats to reevaluate their leadership and make adjustments, like…oh I don’t know…getting rid of Howard Dean as DNC Chair. Anybody who can step in and make such a bold move happen will be an immediate frontrunner for the Presidential nomination in 2008. Plus, a unified party will help push more marginal figures like Cindy Sheehan, the aforementioned Moore, and Al Gore as far away from the halls of power as possible.
Now you understand why I’m pulling so hard for the Democrats to throw the midterm elections.
Out of all the candidates and potential candidates out there, there is only one who could pull off the party unity move, and that’s Hillary. Whether you think she’s too liberal or too conservative, she is a superstar, one that the grassroots will follow. I can't count the number of "Hillary" bumper stickers I've seen on vehicles around Des Moines. (Of course, it would help if I ever learned to count...) With her more moderate appearance, she will torque off many on her left, but the center and right would support her, and I wouldn't be surprised if she managed to corral more than a few people to the left of her in the process. A shakeup in party ranks will give her the opening she needs to step in and recreate the "Comeback Kid" magic her husband created in New Hampshire in 1992.
For those of you wondering whether the Commander In Briefs will be a factor in Hillary's ascension, wonder no longer. He won't. The two of them have been keeping their distance from one another, which helps Hillary establish herself as her own woman and not as a coattail rider. Plus, it gives Bill plenty of space to chase women. This combination will help weed out the "undesirables" like Gore and Kerry, which will strengthen the party overall. Then, with one voice, the Democrats will appear to have their acts together once more.
And then they'll get stomped in the 2008 Presidential election.
Hey, just because they get their acts together doesn't mean they have a shot of winning.
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