Washington — The Democrats in the aftermath of their historic
midterm defeat must be full of questions. How, they must wonder,
did George W. Bush become such a popular president without a sex
scandal? And how can to Democrats again become winners? The
political benefits to be derived from impeachment are beyond their
grasp. There is no Democrat to impeach. They tried to sweep the
country in the last days of the midterm by making it a national
mandate to a deceased senator, and that little dalliance with the
macabre did not even help. They even resorted to sending their
greatest political prestidigitator since John F. Kennedy
barnstorming around the country, but all Bill Clinton managed was a
case of laryngitis.
Who is to blame? The Democrats would not be Democrats unless
they had someone to blame. Some blame their party leaders such as
the Hon. Richard Gephardt and the Hon. Tom Daschle. They claim the
leaders did not give voice to popular Democratic policies, for
instance, raising taxes and delivering the conduct of American
foreign policy to the United Nations. Surely Gephardt and Daschle
are innocent of those charges. In fact this is about the only time
I will find Daschle innocent of anything. But I believe he
recognized, as Gephardt surely did, that if the Democrats started
campaigning on the things they really believe their loss would have
been all the greater.
Very few people are saying it, but facts are facts. The
Democrats have no policies that are still favored by the
electorate. The current wisdom around Washington is that they lost
because George W. Bush is so popular, but a review of how tax
increases fare with the American people reveals that they lost
because the average American feels the tax burden is onerous
enough. They also lost because the Republicans’ policies
domestically and in foreign policy find favor with the
electorate.
As for the magic of Clinton, it is no more. The American people
see the parade of crooked corporate leaders heading off to court
and are reminded of Clinton ethics that the corporate leaders
emulated when they began their scams not during the Bush years but
during the Clintons’ 1990s. They see the danger posed by terrorists
and are reminded of Clinton’s frivolous treatment of terrorism when
the World Trade Center was first attacked and the USS Cole
took its hit from terrorists. Even the Democrats’ shameful
exploitation of Paul Wellstone’s funeral service probably put the
American people in mind of the Clintons’ self-indulgence and
politicization of practically everything. After all, Bill, chewing
his lower lip, sat center stage at the event, in front of candidate
Mondale.
The Democrats’ historic loss in Campaign 2002 was a repudiation
of all the claptrap and corruption of the Clinton years. Now what
is the Democrats’ response? Supposedly they will move to the left.
Yet what does that mean?
In the past that would mean the Democrats were going to embrace
ever more of the welfare state. Unfortunately for the Democrats the
welfare state holds no allure to Americans. It would mean that the
Democrats were going to become more like European Social Democrats,
but such socialists are antiques. Given the zany state of the
American left today I guess when the Democrats say they are moving
left it means they are going to become more like members of People
for the American Way or, better yet, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals.
As for the popularity of President Bush, it certainly did not
help the Democrats, but they ought to recognize the problem he
presents to them. He is not the dull bulb they have claimed. He is
a clever politician with a keen sense of timing. With two weeks to
go in the election he recognized that by campaigning in carefully
selected races he could increase his margin in the House and win
the Senate. My agents in and around the White House tell me that
the decision was his, not that of his political aides. As we see
more of Bush II in action it is increasingly apparent that he may
have the political instincts and the substance of a Reagan.
Certainly he is a man of strong core beliefs. The beliefs are
conservative, not “extreme right” as the Democrats bray but simply
center right. That the Democrats call a man not all that different
from Ronald Reagan “extreme right” speaks volumes for their own
place on the political spectrum. For them to see the President who
just won the historic midterm victory as “extreme right” they have
to be on the extreme left. So expect the Democrats under the
leadership of the likes of the Hon. Nancy Pelosi to sound more and
more like the People for the American Way or, better yet, the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Today they harangue
the National Rifle Association; tomorrow they will be leading
protests at the local McDonald’s. Expect the post-2002 Democrat to
oppose hand guns and sausages — but never baloney.
