Uncle Buck Democrats

There is a scene in the movie Uncle Buck that is a perfect metaphor for D.C. Democrats these days. The little girl is bowling, but she rolls the ball so slowly and with such little force it hits the pin and stops, with the pin not even moving or falling over. Uncle Buck leans down to the disappointed little girl and tries to make her feel better by saying, "If the object of the game was to get the ball as close to the pins as possible without knocking them over, you'd be the champion of the world." Well, if the object of opposition party's message makers is to make the party look as weak as possible, then today's Democratic spokespeople are the greatest opposition party in American history.

To get a sense of what I'm talking about, notice the headline and subheadline of this Washington Post story: "Bush Urges 'Patience' on Iraq; Democrats Urge Benchmarks for Progress." Bush's message - no matter how ridiculous it is - is crystal clear. It projects strength through its certitude. By contrast, the average onlooker sees the Democratic message as a clear split-the-difference pander. "Benchmarks for progress" is politicalese for "trying to have it both ways like smarmy politicians" - and the fact that politicians actually believe the public will buy that nonsense and reward those who say it with their vote is proof positive of how truly out of touch the Washington Democratic Establishment really is.

This cuts to the broader point I started with - the Democrats in Washington these days have quite literally mastered the art of projecting weakness. Other than the few examples of courageous, clear-thinking leaders, the party consistently projects an overarching image of being all about political tactics and calculations, and never about conviction - no matter what the specific issue in question is. They don't seem to understand the value of projecting certitude and conviction when asking for the public's vote. On Iraq, you have to take strong, clear, concise stands like Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). On trade, you have to show you are serious about defending America's working class. On fighting corruption, you have to show you are serious about cleaning up the system - and not go out of your way to continue shaking down corporate lobbyists. It's the same on down the line with every issue. And until Democrats realize these self-evident truths, I fear it will be a long time until we see them make serious electoralg gains.


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