Political Hay
Can’t Win for Losing
The Democrats' long losing streak gets an extension.
(Page 2 of 2)
Surely, no mainstream Democrat would lend legitimacy to this left-wing hate-fest? Yet there they were; Senators Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer; presidential hopefuls Mark Warner, Tom Vilsack, and Bill Richardson; and naturally, DNC Chairman Dr. Dean, eager to rub elbows with the likes of Kos founder, Markos Moulitsas.
What was the media reaction? The New York Times cheerfully covered the event as if it were a meeting of the League of Women Voters, cooing, “Indeed, the convention, the first of what organizers said would become an annual event, seems on the way to becoming as much a part of the Democratic political circuit as the Iowa State Fair.”
Yet when Bill Frist appeared last year on a remote broadcast sponsored by the Family Research Council on the filibustering of judicial nominees, the media reacted predictably. Indignant that the FRC suggested Democrats were blocking judges who were “people of faith,” the Times growled, “It is one thing when private groups foment this kind of intolerance. It is another thing entirely when it’s done by the highest-ranking member of the United States Senate.”
The fact is, the liberal platform of today’s Democratic Party is buttressed mostly by those who are members of radical factions like Daily Kos. Its tactical planks — charges of Republican bigotry and disdain for the environment; sowing mistrust of corporations, and the populist drivel that tax cuts only benefit the rich — are becoming a tough sell to the growing number of Americans who use the Internet, not as a political tool, but as an alternative news source.
Meanwhile, the “old” media continue to laud the influence of web warriors like the Kossacks, happily citing Mr. Moulitsas’ prediction on the upcoming Senate race in Connecticut: “Lieberman is going to lose this one.”
This may make for good copy, but missing is the record of Daily Kos-backed candidates in general elections. Considering that those it has supported are a dismal 0 for 20, its rise to power can only buoy those who hope to further extend the Democrats’ losing streak.
