Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 5 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Democratic Party Risks Losing Its Base

By       (Page 4 of 5 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   7 comments

Again, Democrats could easily stand up and beat their chests pointing out that they had called for a surge in troop levels since before the war, and that they unanimously agreed to send in General Petraeus, but they won’t. The recent refusal to condemn the MoveOn.org ad that dishonored the general has the equal effect of showing that the Democrats don’t support him, and months of ranting endlessly about how “the war is lost” and the troop surge is a bad idea (after they themselves spent years calling for it) has left the DNC’s leaders with the conundrum of either looking hypocritical yet again, or of looking like they were not part of the success that is happening and trends indicate will continue happening for the next 12 months (i.e. until the election).

 

Most Americans don’t have the time or inclination to look at the back and forth details of the war in Iraq or the war over the war in Iraq. This is what makes it possible for today’s Democrats to so easily manipulate and mislead their base into believing pretty much anything as long as it has a tone of counter-oppression in the message. For those who do follow the war in Iraq and the war over the war in Iraq, the truth of the matter is utterly simple: right now the Democratic-Party-controlled Congress is deadlocked, and it cannot impose its political will upon the President. Since President Bush is a lame duck, and since his poll numbers are already so low, he has nothing to politically gain or lose by surrendering to the Democrats advocating the surrender of Iraq. Unless there’s some miracle, it’s just not legislatively viable, and even the far left base of the Democratic Party admits this on their websites.

 

While the United States’ political tug of rope continues over the coulda-shoulda-woulda and what-should-we-do debates despite their futility, stupidity, and lack of credibility, life continues. Mankind moves on. In some ways this is for the better, and in others it’s for the worse. After all, just as most of the planet is water, a similar proportion of mankind is still living in mud huts and is far from “civilized” – let alone reasonable and/or morale. As we look at the timeline of things already scheduled, trends and “most likely” scenarios, the edge of the map (the 2008 election) has a sign that says, “Here there be monsters.”

 

North Korea is still building huge ballistic missiles and shipping them to even backwater Third World countries like Yemen. Iran is still enriching uranium for “peaceful purposes” like nuclear-powered electrical plants and while there are no nuclear-powered electrical facilities being built, massive underground enriching facilities have been built, surrounded by surface to air missile batteries and brigades of special security forces (this is to say nothing of the plans that the UN found in Iran detailing how to make a uranium bomb core, how to make uranium nuclear weapons, how to make those weapons fit on ballistic missiles, and so forth). Osama Bin Laden is still out there-waiting to be captured or killed? Al Qaeda is still a viable force, and the list of world threats is growing-from pandemic flu to global warming to AIDS in Africa, there’s no short list of fodder for political alarmist rhetoric. In other words, there are a lot of things that can threaten to overshadow the dwindling war in Iraq at any time.

 

So what will Democrats do to keep their base (which is largely fueled by Bush-hate and opposition to the Iraq War) inflamed and compel them to fuel the fires of Democratic candidates’ campaign engines? President Bush isn’t running, so rhetoric against him falls short of a true target. The Iraq War is winding down in the field, and over in the Beltway. Democrats can’t really beat their chests since they’ve taken so many positions against the war and against success in the war. They can’t bow their heads and admit they were wrong, and they can’t just let the issue fade away or they’ll lose the momentum, drive, and (most importantly) donations from their base. Nope, the plastic thingy that held the party together under one common, fiery cause is gone. There’re 6 reasons that the Democrats want it to go away as fast as possible, and if they wait too long to declare victory or to change the subject, the party will be in an awfully weak position for the general election.

 

For candidates dependent on the Iraq war as a crux issue, it’s time to get a new plastic thingy ASAP or to distract from the Elephant that in the room. Hmmm, how to distract the base while keeping it energized? Maybe attacking pundits from the other side of the aisle would do it! They could pick some conservative, label him a racist, put out the word to the pundits opposing media outlets, and then see what happens? That, or maybe find some really popular pundit, make up a story about something he said, and pimp it to the allied media whores.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Scott Malensek Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Just a stay at home dad who reads a lot
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Democratic Party Risks Losing Its Base

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend