MrSpkr's random thoughts . . .

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Okay, okay, so it's been a while, but I've been busy, see?

Where to start.

Gore's announcement today? I like it. By formally backing Dean so early, Gore has potentially started a civil war in the Democratic party. He is fighting to wrest the party back to the left, and away from the moderate stance it took (at least facially) under Clinton. This will have the unintended affect of driving moderate Democrat turnout way down -- which will help Bush. It will also tend to make the 2008 Democratic primary incredibly nasty -- a thought I relish.

My father and his parents are Democrats -- out of habit, more than anything else. The problem is, the Democratic party of their youth (i.e., Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, etc.) is gone. The Republican party of today is far closer to Harry or John than the modern Democrats.

The change really came about following the 1968 and 1972 conventions. There, leftist radicals managed to seize control of the party machinery. The 1974 impeachment of Richard Nixon and the subsequent Democratic sweep in Congress and in state office that year put these leftist radicals in power for a generation.

Unfortunately for them, old age, retirement, and death are clearing them out of power. Their message of doom, gloom, and evil Republicans doesn't sell to a newer generation that wants solutions rather than rhetoric. It's telling that, while many of the youngest American adults don't believe they will ever receive social security or medicaid, the Democrats won't dream of touching it for fear of losing one of their last strongholds -- older Americans, like my dad and his folks, who vote for the donkey out of habit.

Steve
- posted by MrSpkr @ 14:10

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