Washington Governor Gary Locke delivered the Democratic rebuttle — like a lullaby. Locke seems a competent, affable fellow. Sort of a West Coast John Edwards. And just as light and fluffy.
His speech, next to Bush’s at least, seemed too “read” and too little “spoken.” Although in all fairness, that’s typical for a speech given to a teleprompter as compared to one given before a live audience.
But what of the substance? It all boiled down to, “What Bush said, only less. Unless you want more. Really, we’re flexible.”
Where is the modern Democratic Party’s Harry Truman, John Kennedy, or even a goddamn Woodrow Wilson? (I’m no Wilson fan, but he did at least present a solitary vision, wrong though it was.)
Perhaps that’s unfair. Wilson, Truman, and JFK were all real presidents with real power, and today’s Democrats are out in the wilderness. But no, it isn’t an unfair comparison at all. Kennedy, as only Republicans seem to remember, ran to the right of Nixon on national defense in 1960.
Democrats used to be serious about defending our people and our interests, much more so than the pre-war “America Firsters” in the Republican party, or the throwback Buchanan Brigades of today. What happened?
Well, Vietnam happened. The Marxification of our universities happened. Value-free multiculturalism and knee-jerk anti-war stances have almost completely captured the Democratic party. Those even slightly out of step — like Gary Locke — must still play to the basest base of their party, coddling those who don’t know what this country is, what it should stand for, nor how proudly it should stand.
For a great political party of a great nation, that’s a damn shame.
And, no, I don’t have any solution to offer the Democrats. It seems not even twin electoral defeats could wake them up.
Suggestions?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member