Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.

-C.S. Lewis

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Sen. Schumer At Sea

I just don't understand statements like this one from Sen. Schumer (D-NY).

"This portends really well for the future," said Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. "Unless George Bush reverses his policies and reaches to the middle you're going to see many more victories like this."
What on earth is he talking about? It's almost like he's secretly disappointed that the Dems won.

The basic implication he's making is that the natural order is a country busily electing Republicans under the wise leadership of their center-leaning Republican president. Some of my readers will certainly claim this to be the plain truth, and I suppose it may very well be, but why the heck would a Democratic Senator publicly agree? Even if Charles here doesn't realize it, the goal is to create an environment in which people vote for Democrats not because the Republican president's political balance is off, but because they want things like Guaranteed Healthcare For All Americans, actual economic expansion, real steps toward energy independence, a more thoughtful approach to drug policy, etc.

Schumer should have something like "the results of these elections prove that people want more from their leaders than they're getting right now. They're ready for a change and they showed it. They're turning away from the politics of division and moving towards vision of the future. Blah, blah, blah..." Dems should speak of the recent victories in terms of a "sea change" in the political landscape. Even if that's not actually what happened, they should still talk about it.

"People are dismissing the politics of fear and are embracing the strength of our country, which is its people. They see Democrats as providing leadership on energy and healthcare and they're beginning to realize that the Democratic vision is about making what makes America great even greater." See, Chuck? See how much better that sounds than "Don't worry GOP, if the preznit stops being such an ass they'll start electing Republicans again."

I once imagined myself as a speechwriter, but then I flipped a burger patty into my eye and it pretty much ended my little daydream.

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