Smart Alek or Wise Guy?
Some years back, I was talking about intelligence with my wife, who was unhappy because I said she was “smart”. You see, she thought I was patronizing her, saying things I didn’t mean to make her feel better. I finally helped her see what I was saying; that there are different classes of intelligence and ability. The gourmet chef uses different skills and knowledge than a courtroom lawyer or a retail executive or a musician or anyone else. A person should not be considered ‘below’ someone else, because they are not accomplished in one particular area. It occurs to me, that the Democratic Party has yet to learn this critical lesson.
John Kerry’s facade this year was the epitome of the Potemkin Village, all image and no substance. For a time, I worried that voters might buy into the lie, and miss the man as he really measures. Now I know, Americans are generally able and willing to spot out the fakes and reject them, especially when they have the genuine article for comparison. While President Bush had his own issues of false persona to address, they were not nearly as egregious as Kerry’s, and Americans recognized that fact.
It struck me as strange, for all of that, that the Democrats would not have recognized how thin Kerry’s image was, or that a critical number of voters would see through it. But seeing the reactions to the election from the likes of Edwards and Daschle, Pelosi and Dowd, Gore and Rather, I also realize that the Democrats’ leadership had blocked out any focus but their own narrow vision, so that corrective advice was pre-emptively rejected.
To their credit, the Democrats managed to produce more than 57 million votes in a losing effort, and they continue to dominate minorities with scare tactics and demagoguery. The Democrats continue to control most of the major cities in the United States, where excessive bureaucracy and taxation are accepted without the rebellion which occurs in most of the nation. This means that the Liberal message (speaking connotatively) will continue for the forseeable future, and Democrats will continue to get elected wherever Socialism and Class Warfare are considered reasonable positions.
However, the events of the past three Federal Elections shows that the Democrats in control of their party are not only unwilling to present a more moderate message and tone, they are plainly not able to do so. Republicans, representing the views of most Americans now, hold the advantage that their potential base could give them the majority in any national election. The downside for the Republicans, is that as they run on three wings to the Democrats’ two wings, with imput from every wing where the Democrats are rigidly controlled (more on this distinction here), their consensus is more difficult to develop and continue; it’s one of the reasons why Democrats accomplish small victories in a long period of time, while Republicans tend to win large battles, but intermittently – since the GOP allows for dissent and debate within its ranks, Democrats can use this debate to break consensus and kill legislation. Americans have seen this, no matter how it was hidden, and taken note.
What Democrats miss, however, is that the fact of Republican debate and a mix of opinions, broadcasts that the diversity in the GOP is, however the media claims otherwise, much greater than the ‘tolerance’ of the Democrats, who strike down anyone not in compliance with the party line. This, more than the dull personality of John Kerry, is what hurt the Democrats this year: at their peak, perhaps 90% of Democrats polled said they would vote for Kerry. One telling statistic, according to CNN, is that 11% of Democrats voted for Bush, but only 6% of Republicans for Kerry. Statistically as well as in their message, the Republicans proved the more diverse party. This is increasingly true, indicating that Americans are also paying attention to the results of the past elections, and considering their choice in the light of new evidence; evidence of Democrat’s partisan attacks and Republican leadership on the issues which matter most to the voters.
The Democrats will continue to exist as a major political party for decades to come. But by their own hand, they are committing themselves to second-tier status. Americans understand and respect traditional liberal values, but they won’t tear down their moral values to advance liberal ideals. Democrats continue to misunderstand what those moral values are; values which transcend part, which the voters expect, frankly, any serious candidate to embrace, like not undermining authority in wartime, or sticking to the issues in an election and eschewing personal attacks by the candidate or his staff, or recognizing the honor in a candidate, even an opponent. It seems that when a candidate displays these qualities, Democrats regard it as a sign of weakness rather than strength, and this badly mis-judges the American sense of honor.
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