Did Democrats win too much this Year?:The Guardian, 11/10/06
--The wife of a top Democrat party fixer was heard saying her husband would rather his party just won the House, in the interests of winning the big prize, the White House, in 2008.
David Corn, the Washington editor of The Nation magazine who heard the treasonous remarks, explained the thinking behind them.
"Had the Democrats won only the House, they could have positioned themselves as the insurgents of Washington, running against incumbent Republicans in the Senate and the White House," Mr Corn said. "But now they have the Senate and the House, they are 50-50 partners in governing."
In Star Wars terms, he explained, the Democrats "go from being the rebels, to being forced to work for the empire".
Vietnam
Power, particularly at the height of a disastrous war, is a poisoned chalice and the party is afraid to hold it in both hands. They have good reason. The Democrats had a congressional majority during the Vietnam war and ended up getting a large share of the blame for that ignoble defeat. They are still struggling to shrug off that defeatist label. That was why John Kerry made a big deal (perhaps too big a deal) of his Vietnam exploits in 2004. It is why the victorious Democratic candidate for the Virginia senate seat, Jim Webb, was a Vietnam veteran. It was why the party fielded a dozen more war heroes around the country.
Once more, however, the Democrats find themselves sharing responsibility for a bloody quagmire, and they have no coherent agreed position on how to extricate themselves.
The voters have "reluctantly given us the keys," said Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic chairman, adding that the Democrats would have to prove themselves very quickly. It is easier said than done.
"There's a huge risk for the Democrats if they assume it's a mandate for them," said Frank Luntz, one of the Republicans' top pollsters. "This vote bodes poorly for the party in power. Americans have decided they don't the like status quo. And in two years' time, the Democrats won't be able to draw that contrast."<< |
