Sunday, November 16, 2003
In his Hold the Vitriol, Nick Kristof makes an urgent plea for liberals to look beyond their rage.
Liberals have now become as intemperate as conservatives, and the result - everybody shouting at everybody else - corrodes the body politic and is counterproductive for Democrats themselves. My guess is that if the Democrats stay angry, then they'll offend Southern white guys, with or without pickups and flags, and lose again.
The left should have learned from Newt Gingrich that rage impedes understanding — and turns off voters. That's why President Bush was careful in 2000, unlike many in his party, to project amiability and optimism.
On a personal note, I was recently able to get a friend to say that he'd vote for the Green River Killer over President Bush. Kneejerk thinking like that is a nice way to revisit George McGovern's performance in 1972. The circumstances that we're in truly demand a Democrat with real vision and idealism - a 21st century equivalent of the Four Freedoms, or of JFK's call to duty. The likelihood of such a vision emerging as a campaign theme amidst all of this visceral Dubyaphobia is dim.
Liberals have now become as intemperate as conservatives, and the result - everybody shouting at everybody else - corrodes the body politic and is counterproductive for Democrats themselves. My guess is that if the Democrats stay angry, then they'll offend Southern white guys, with or without pickups and flags, and lose again.
The left should have learned from Newt Gingrich that rage impedes understanding — and turns off voters. That's why President Bush was careful in 2000, unlike many in his party, to project amiability and optimism.
On a personal note, I was recently able to get a friend to say that he'd vote for the Green River Killer over President Bush. Kneejerk thinking like that is a nice way to revisit George McGovern's performance in 1972. The circumstances that we're in truly demand a Democrat with real vision and idealism - a 21st century equivalent of the Four Freedoms, or of JFK's call to duty. The likelihood of such a vision emerging as a campaign theme amidst all of this visceral Dubyaphobia is dim.
