DEAN AND THE DEMOCRATS: SEIZING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY

When this country’s politically literate, sit down on November 8 of next year and examine the GOP’s unprecedented victory in the 2006 mid-term elections, those who paid attention will be able to pinpoint the precise moment at which the Democrats blew their chances of regaining the House and Senate. It occurred when DNC chair Howard Dean went on the radio and proclaimed “The idea that we are going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong.”

While almost no one knows as much about losing as Howard Dean does, his statement is a perfect example as to why the majority of Americans consistently reject the Democratic party when it comes to questions of foreign policy and protecting our country from those who wish to do us harm.

For the past five years one of the American left’s favorite pastimes is to claim that George W. Bush has an intellect, equivalent to that of a retarded chimp. However as Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does” and there is no political figure in America today who has said and done as many downright stupid things as Dr. Dean.

Dean’s statement that the war in Iraq is un-winnable is not simply false, but it is also a terrible message to send out to our troops and reeks of a kind of pessimism which Americans rarely desire in their political leaders. Even if you agree with the statement, the last thing the Democrats want is to be viewed as the party of surrender or as a party that has no faith in our military. However, Dean’s recent rant has opened the door for the GOP to paint the Democratic leadership as advocates of a cut and run philosophy, and they deserve to be painted as such.

Every day the Democrats are sounding more and more like the French, and it’s not just Dean who’s buttering up the croissants. There is John Murtha of course, who advocated a cut and run strategy, only to flip-flop on his proposal several days later, when House Republicans called Murtha’s bluff and put his idea up for a vote, embarrassing Murtha, who didn’t even vote for his own plan.

Hmmm? Put a decorated war veteran up on a platform to oppose the war and hope that his glory as a war hero blinds people to his bad ideas. Where have I seen that before? Oh, that’s right! Failed presidential candidate John Kerry. Kerry recently accused US troops of terrorizing Iraqi women and children, just like he did during the Vietnam era. Of course, just like his claims during his testimony before the Senate, the recent ones are not backed up with any substantive facts either. Where are the Swift Boat Vets when you need them? Like so many on the left, Kerry is trying to paint our troops as the bad guys rather than the insurgence that they are fighting. No wonder members of the military overwhelmingly supported President Bush in last year’s election.

Then you have House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, now an advocate of “strategic redeployment” which is essentially a cut and run strategy dressed up to sound like something remotely resembling an intelligent Democratic alternative to Bush’s plan, which is to actually win the war.
These ideas and statements are not coming from left wing nutcases like Cindy Sheehan or Michael Moore. These are coming from, the people in charge of the party. Dean is the party’s leader, Kerry was its standard bearer last year, and Pelosi is the highest ranking elected Democrat in the country. The only reason why Murtha has been spared from a GOP spanking in the party’s latest commercials in which a white surrender flag flies over images of Pelosi, Dean and Kerry while they make their politically motivated statements, is because hardly anyone knows who he is.

President Bush may not be the most intellectually curious man to sit in the Oval Office, but politically, he has made a great number of smart moves. And no, you can’t give all of the credit to Karl Rove or Dick Cheney, because when those cameras are turned on and Bush is put on the spot, there is no one there to help him if he says something ridiculous. He has had his share of missteps, but he has never said anything as dumb as Howard Dean’s recent swipe at the US military.

This is not an isolated incident either. Dean has had his foot lodged in his mouth ever since he came on the national scene two years ago. Some of his more poorly thought out comments include:



"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for..."

On 9/11:

“The most interesting theory that I’ve heard so far……is that he (Bush) was warned ahead of time by the Saudis.”

The racially sensitive Howard Dean:

“You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."

On Osama Bin Laden, the guy who admitted to killing 3000 American civilians:

"I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found……we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

On a man who has not been convicted of anything:

"I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence."

And of course:

"Not only are we going to New Hampshire ... we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York! And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House, Yeeeeeaaaaaargh!"

This last one doesn’t so much show Dean’s proclivity to put his foot in his mouth as it does, his lack of self control.

The amazing thing about most of these quotes is that they were made before Dean was elected chairman of the DNC. Even after seeing Dean’s potential as a loose cannon, the Party leadership in all of their wisdom put Dean in charge of the party. And they say Bush is Stupid?

Despite all of the venom that I have unleashed on Dean in this piece, I don’t think Dean is an unintelligent man. Stupid people don’t graduate from medical school, or Harvard business school for that matter. I do think however, that he is one of the worst politicians to come along in the last 50 years.

Until the Democratic party stops listening to guys like Howard Dean and starts listening to sensible, not to mention elect able candidates like Joe Lieberman, they will stay in the political wilderness, and Dean’s thickheaded statement regarding the possibility of victory in Iraq is a perfect example as to why they deserve their status as the minority party.

I don’t think that most Democrats would echo Dean’s comments, but I do believe that a sizable portion of them agree with him. Just because their concurrence with Dean is not based on reality, does not mean that they should keep their opinions to themselves, but if they care about the future of their dying party, they need to tell people like Dean and Kerry to shut-up.

Dean has already done the damage to the Democratic Party that will lead them to another loss in 2006, so even if they get rid of him now, it won’t do them any good. He hasn’t been a very effective fundraiser either, and that’s the main reason they put him in charge of the party in the first place. It is time however for the Democrats to cut their losses and try to rebuild their credibility on issues regarding the US military and foreign policy. I’m not saying that Bush hasn’t made his share of mistakes in his handling of the war, but with his approval ratings in the mid-30’s the Dems had a perfect opportunity to frame themselves as a common sense alternative to GOP control of the federal Government, and with Dean’s boneheaded remarks that opportunity has disappeared faster than a glass of Maker’s Mark placed in front of Ted Kennedy.

I don’t know why I’m giving the Democrat’s this advice. The last thing I want is for them to come back into power while the US is threatened by a vicious enemy. I suppose this is a big thank you to those in the Democratic Party who came to their senses and denied Dean your presidential nomination in 2004. Even if John Kerry had won last year, I would still thank God every day that Howard Dean was not elected Commander in Chief.

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