I’m currently watching the Democrat Presidential Debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, and there’s been almost more coming from the LaRouche protestors than from the candidates. (I was at Morgan this spring for a conference, and for some reason Morgan State seems to be a hotbed for Lyndon LaRouche supporters. Why, I’ve no idea…)
You can tell that the Democrats are going off the deep end when Rev. Sharpton seems to be the most sensible and level-headed of the pack, earning a few words of praise even from Lieberman. Then again, the other candidates have all descended to the typical demogoguery of the Rev. Sharpton, so it would not be difficult for him to transcend the fray.
The only surprises come from the tension between the candidates. Lieberman attacked Dean for his stance on Israel, something that shows that Lieberman is the only real centrist candidate up there. Kerry is his typical shrill self, Graham accused the President of deliberately falsifying the case for Iraq, and Dean is surprisingly sedate. (Dean had one good line so far but seems to be getting the short end of the stick on questions.)
So far there’s absolutely no sign of any vision other than "spend more, except for rebuilding Iraq". The Democrat’s foreign policy is criticize Bush, but do exactly what he’s planning to do for Iraq, and their domestic policy is virtual nil. This is a party made of nothing but spite and hatred of Bush with absolutely no vision beyond that end.
Lieberman attacked Dean for his stance on Israel, something that shows that Lieberman is the only real centrist candidate up there.
How does that imply centrism? Centrism would imply at least consideration of all sides in a conflict. Therefore Lieberman could possibly be the least centrist of all the canidates on that issue.
Message from France: please elect who you want but George The Appointed.
And viva Hillary for 2008 !!!
Cheer up USA!
Dean’s gonna demolish George II.
Frank, I certainly hope you’re right about Dean clobbering Bush, but he will be a brutally tough sell with the American electorate. Even with Bush’s disastrous performance on every front in his three years in office, he still has an advantage going into the 2004 election, particularly with opposition that he can successfully brand as a “liberal loony.” Dean’s resume and Presidential platform is decidedly moderate, but his opposition to the war in Iraq (even though he is right) and his support of gay marriage in his home state of Vermont will immediately disqualify him from the support of at least a third of Americans. Figure that as much as 20 percent of Americans, particularly in rural areas, base their vote on nothing else but opposition to abortion. Thus, the GOP’s relentless campaign to paint Dean as a fringe-left nut could have incredible success.
I’m still not writing off this election cycle or the fact that Dean-mania will ensure his likely doomed nomination, although he’s undoubtedly the front-runner at this point. With as many problems as Bush has caused already, all of them look to be substantially worse by next year at this time. The magnitude of these problems will have to intensify to the point of approaching national collapse before Dean could beat Bush. A very high percentage of Americans would sooner destroy their own country through the mix of greed, arrogance and idiocy represented by the Bush administration than to elect a “liberal”. Unfortunately, they may get what want and drag the rest of us into the sewer with them.
Mark: sad.
Cheer up & be patient.
Hehe… LaRouche supporters… after I ran into Harley Schlanger, LaRouche’s main field agent, while lobbying in Pierre, they’ve been trying to recruit me. And I really don’t know why.
Hey! Don’t knock the LaRouchers! They have some nifty plans to stimulate the economy through massive public works programs (the only thing that will really work if we don’t want to just ride it out) which is more than I can say for either of the two major major parties.
Oh yeah, other than that they’re comletely crazy.
Yeah, I love the mag rail plan too. As for banning video games and bombing the whole country with DDT… well, don’t get me started.
But, if Harley Schlanger is out there, thanks for dinner and the intriguing conversation! 🙂