EATING OUR OWN FACE, -how to lose the White House yet again-
The Democratic Party has lost 7 of the last 10 presidential elections, and is choosing the low ground once again on the next battle field. With the most favorable political winds at their backs in 70 years, they are poised to once again to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
If you think losing 7 of 10 presidential elections is pitiful, and it certainly is, consider the facts that Jimmy Carter eked out a victory based on the American public’s disgust with the criminal malfeasance of the Nixon administration, and that Bill Clinton twice rode into office enabled by the presence of Ross Perot on the ballot. Baring these strokes of dumb luck the Democratic Party could have easily been shut out of the White House for the last 40 years.
Senator McCain is no push-over. He appeals to the very demographics that determine presidential elections: moderates and independents. In spite of the prevailing political winds, he can win in November given the polarizing and divisive nature of the Democratic primary.
After Iowa, the Clinton Camp had to stop the run-away train that was the Obama phenomenon. The “kitchen sink,” campaign was thrown under the wheels of the Obama freight train, but unfortunately for Democrats, their chances for victory in November may have been in that sink. The “kitchen sink campaign,” has had results. It also has had consequences.
It is still mathematically possible for Senator Clinton to win the nomination, but it is increasingly unlikely she can win the general election given the path she has taken to get there. Without huge pluralities and big turnout in the African-American community and an energized youth vote, any Democratic presidential candidate will struggle in November, and suffer shortened coattails that might otherwise lift the entire ticket.
Robert F. Kennedy once said, “You do not need to be a genius to be in politics but you do need to know how to count.” The Democratic Party is a big tent. Every pole, stake, and section is dependant on the other to stand up in a wind. Tear one of these parts down and the entire thing falls apart. Division, distraction and subtraction during the primary season, is one of the primary reasons Democrats consistently get their ass kicked in November.
Senator Clinton has trailed, from day one, not because of her gender, but because the organization she put together, failed her as a candidate. She remains in the race because of her personal qualities of tenacity, determination, and strength. It has been her inability to instill her positive personal attributes into her campaign staff, that has cost her the lead in a contest that was her’s to lose.
Senator Obama has not been in the lead in this race, because of his race, but rather because of his organizational and leadership skills. He has held the lead, from day one, because of these skills and because of the uplifting message of his campaign. Senator Obama’s organizational skills and success provide insight as to what kind of a president he would be. But that is not the message American is witnessing. That message is being overshadowed by the quadrennial spectacle of the Democratic Party gleefully eating itself alive.
mike kohr