We've all seen a zillion diaries now worrying about the gay marriage issue, often blaming it for Kerry's loss, arguing about whether we should oppose gay marriage or defend it or just try to avoid the subject altogether. And to all the people doing all the worrying, i have two words...
There's been a lot of talk about "moral issues" in this election, which turned out Bush's base and ultimately won the election for the GOP. There are two "moral issues" that really mattered... abortion, and "gay marriage". I think these are fundamentally different issues, and need to be treated as such.
The "unelectable" label sank Howard Dean in the primaries. Not the Scream, not the slanted media coverage, not the fanatics... the "unelectable" frame cost him the nomination, and "most electable" won Kerry the nomination. And then we lost the election by what, three million votes? Lost seats in the Senate? Hell, we could have done that with Dean!
Really, i'm not knocking Kerry here. I think he did a fine job as a candidate. But in the end, he didn't do any better than Dean would have. Dean is our Goldwater, and he didn't even get the chance to run because Democratic voters are too damned scared.
Our next chance... 2006. What Senate races are up? What House candidates will be vulnerable? The Senate is especially important. Bush will probably get three SC appointments this term, enough to cause havoc for the next twenty years. If we can flip the Senate back in 2006, he'll only get one or two without having to cooperate with Democrats.
Oh, and there are governors to toss out on their ear, too. Right, Pawlenty?
I believe Kerry supporters are making an unspoken bargain with our next president... we get you elected, you get us out of Iraq.
Sure, there are other things we expect of him as well, but i think Iraq is the central point. If we still have 100k+ troops in a shooting war in Iraq at the end of 2007, it'll be like LBJ in 1968 all over again. He may as well not even run for nomination. And if he does the sort of unilateral sudden withdrawl that the antiwar left wants and Iraq devolves further into chaos and civil war (or worse, WWIII), he won't win re-election in 2008.
Here's a terrific article by a former Marine intelligence officer who was stationed in Iraq. He tells the story of how growing White House micromanagement and incompetence turned success into failure in Iraq. Now he's a Kerry supporter...
The "Bush Tax" was one of my favorite Deanisms, and the Bushtax.com website is still up. Now, i'm not usually one of those armchair quarterbacks who come here to tell the Kerry campaign that they'd get a supermajority if they'd just follow my wise advice and stop doing whatever it is i don't like, but... maybe the rest of us can revive this idea elsewhere?
My laugh for the day... i went to a Howard Dean book signing today, to get my advance copy of his book and thank him for, well, everything. To keep the line orderly, they were handing out pages from a Dilbert daily calendar. Mine was, um, apropos...
Dogbert: Our contract clear states that I can give you nicknames, mottos, and political preferences.
Dilbert: I demand a new contract based on the fact that I didn't read this one before I signed it.
Dogbert: Too bad, Skippy. You're a communist now.
Hee! I showed it to him, and he laughed and signed it for me. It's getting framed. :}
Hey, everyone else knows what's best for Kerry, why not me too?
Anyway, this thought came to me on the anniversary of 9/11, re-reading the eyewitness account of a friend, remembering another friend who is alive today because she missed her flight in Boston, thinking of my sister who watched the plane crash into the Pentagon...
That was the question on a paid advertisement link from this ABC News article on Kerry. I couldn't resist an ad like that! Clicking through, i found pro-Saudi spin, paid for by the Saudi embassy.
This is really interesting. Apparently, they're getting really concerned about American public opinion, to do crass propoganda like that.
"I don't know where he is. I have no idea, and I really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - George W. Bush, March 13, 2002
But when i brought this up in another forum, a Bush apologist challenged me for a cite, and i can't find one. Nothing on Google News. Regular googling turns up thousands of hits, but none i can find from "respectable" news sources.
Is this maybe on film somewhere? Did Moore use it in F911? Can ANYONE find me hard proof that Bush said it? I'd hate to see this called an urban legend...
Watching the McCain and Kerry tempests today, i think a lot of people don't get that these guys are actually really good politicians, with long experience in the Senate, and they're playing not for the now, but for the future...
Seek, and ye shall find... Why Your Tax Cut Doesn't Add Up, from the April 12 issue of Newsweek (thanks to AlanF for helping me find it)
Now, how does this sound for a populist rallying cry... "75% of American families pay more in Social Security and Medicare taxes than they do in income tax". Puts those Bush tax cuts in perspective, doesn't it? And once you have their attention, you can explain how regressive payroll taxes are, etc.
Not an actual connection, mind you, just looking at the "facts". He acknowledges that the CIA has long said there was no connection. But still, you never know, right?
Is anyone else getting hit up for money by Democrats who are NOT running in 2004? This problem has become a controversy among Minnesota Deaniacs, and i thought maybe it should be brought up here as well, to see how other states are doing.
You know those small, round, white bumper stickers with initials in them? They usually represent countries (i.e., IRL for Ireland), but sometimes get used for other things (i.e. LNX for Linux).
ABB.
Would it or would it not be cool to have little round stickers that say ABB on them? Has anyone done this already?
