The Democratic Party stood for
nothing in 2002 election cycle
By JONATHAN ELENDU
Exclusive commentary for USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com
and NigeriaCentral.com
Last Tuesday, November 5th, was my birthday. Normally, it would have
been a day to take things easy, toast a few drinks with friends and
family and generally take time off to reflect. Instead it was a busy
day 
because
it was the mid-term election in the United States of America.
My day started with me taking off to Milan, a suburb of Ann Arbor. I
traveled with a Democratic Party operative in Michigan, Peter Morman.
The Saturday before the Tuesday election, I had taken a similar trip
with a candidate on the ballot for the election. On the Saturday trip
to the outskirts of Detroit, we rode with a group of volunteers from
Michigan State University in East Lansing.
The volunteers were three eighteen-year-old women who kept a lively
and continuos commentary on everything from American football to
latest dating tips, and periodically, I tried to interject politics
in the exchange. I was amazed at the level of their passion for
headline national events in the country. For purposes of disclosure,
I will state that these were Democrats, or Democratic Party
sympathizers.
The women were fiercely opposed to anything or anyone who would
repeal Roe Vs. Wade. They were against the impending war with
Iraq. They thought the tax cut neither benefited neither them nor
anyone they knew. And how did they feel about Affirmative Action?
They talked about the skewed nature of the American society and how
some people are born into poverty and because of government policies,
remain at that level until they die. Their children follow in their
parents' footsteps as they attend the worst schools, work minimum
wage jobs (if they are even hired) and the cycle continues.
I
asked the candidate what he thought about the women's concerns? He
agreed with everything they said and lamented that his party, the
Democratic National Convention, DNC had abandoned the little people.
"Would you have voted against the tax cuts and the Iraqi resolution?"
I asked. "Probably not," he replied. And why not? Because it is not
often a smart thing to do in politics, that is, to go against a very
popular and formidable President.
The Saturday conversation and my discussion with the Democratic Party
operative earlier on Tuesday, November 5th, came back to me later in
the evening when a friend called me shortly after I settled down in
my favorite chair for what I thought would be a long night. My friend
had called me to ask what I thought the night would look like and
whom I felt would win. I told him the Democratic Party may win some
governorship seats but would likely lose the Senate and some seats in
the House. "Why?" he asked.
The Democratic Party started hemorrhaging when Bill Clinton ran for
the Presidency for the first time in 1992. He made Republican Party
issues his own. Since then, the blurring of Party lines by both sides
has been a continuous process. Often people cannot tell what the
parties stand for and how they differ, except, of course when the
extremists on both sides are on stage. Fortunately, or unfortunately,
the leadership of both parties has very few clear-cut partisan
thinkers in their fold. Simply put, the parties have morphed and
America is on a conveyor belt to a one party state. I know it's a
stretch to say that America stands to become a one party
dictatorship, however, it is an idea worth pondering, especially
given the way the opposition collapsed after the tragedies of
September 11, 2001.
The Democratic Party lost control of the Senate on Tuesday night. The
President's Party won. This came as no surprise to anyone, who has
been watching the political trends in this country for a while. The
Republican Party won for two reasons: The popularity of George Bush
and the lack of a coherent message from the Democratic Party. In
fact, George Bush's popularity arises from the lack of a message from
the Democratic Party.
What do Democrats stand for? What is the Democratic Party's agenda in
international affairs, economy, health care and other national
issues? Nothing. The old cliché that if you don't stand for
something you will fall for anything is true, even in this day and
age. The Democratic Party stood for nothing in this election cycle.
They abandoned long-held principles for political expediency. The
Party leadership was busy trying to protect their jobs at all costs
that is why they lost it. Ask Congressman Dick Gephardt (who has
decided to quit his own leadership position).
This
ineptitude did not only cost them this election; it also cost them
the 2000 presidential election. Many pundits have argued that if Al
Gore had embraced core Democratic Party values in addition to running
on the economic legacy of the Clinton-Gore years, he would be
President today. I agree with this assertion. I saw Gore a few weeks
ago campaigning for Jennifer Granholm, the Governor-Elect of the
State of Michigan. Gore invoked Clinton's name more than five times
in a speech that lasted less than 12 minutes. This is something he
was unable to do when he ran for President in 2000.
It is ironic and indicative of the kind of man
Gore is that Bill Clinton's name was taboo during his campaign, yet,
only a few years earlier he had stood on White House lawns and
proclaimed Clinton one of America's greatest presidents. He distanced
himself from Clinton and he lost. Now in every speech, you hear about
"my friend Bill Clinton," or "Clinton and I," over and over.
After the tragic incidents of September 11, 2001, the American people
and indeed the whole world rallied around the American flag.
President George Bush was given all the support he needed to go
after Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It was a solemn time and politics
took the backstage. The President, whose approval rating was at 51%
on September 10, saw his approval-rating rise to over 90% a few days
later. The Democratic Party leaders were intimidated by this sudden
change of events. Like any smart politician, Bush and members of his
team, led by Karl Rove, took advantage of the situation to push the
President's agenda. The Democrats complained in their cloakrooms in
Congress. They dared not speak out in public. George Bush and his
people continued to clobber them. Anyone who opposed his policies was
tagged unpatriotic.
It is curious that the hype of Iraq took a more prominent position as
the President's approval rating was dropping to realistic levels.
Suddenly, Iraq became "so dangerous" that America had to go to war
immediately. The Democrats were caught off guard. Their consultants
were asleep at the switch. If they were alive to their
responsibilities, they would have seen that coming. Karl Rove
forewarned them. The President even told them shortly before he took
office that war was going to be his passion. Looking at the
composition of his Cabinet, they should have seen this coming. If
September 11th had not happened, Bush would have found a reason to
start something somewhere else.
Would George Bush start a war just because of elections? I don't
know. But what is obvious is that the racheting up of the war chants
by this Administration a few months to Mid-term elections was no
happenstance. That Karl Rove, the President's political director,
told Republicans to run for elections on National Security issues
months before the war rhetoric started was no coincidence.
Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle took the bait. They thought by ramming
the Iraqi resolution through the Congress they would have time to
draw attention to domestic issues. They forgot to consult with the
base of the Democratic Party. The majority of those, who were up for
reelection in the Senate and who voted for the war resolution, lost,
including Max Cleland, a war hero who lost his two legs and an arm to
war. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who was in a tight race for
reelection, saw his numbers going up after he voted against the war.
Unfortunately, he died in a plane crash with his wife, daughter and
three staffers a few days before the elections.
After Wellstone's death, people paid glowing tributes to him. His
colleagues on the other side of the aisle called him a principled
man. He was a man who often voted his conscience. He was a liberal
and in this climate where it has become a taboo to be called a
liberal, he wore the title with pride. He stood for something and
even in death, he was appreciated and recognized as the conscience of
the Democratic Party.
What do Democrats stand for? The Democratic Party is no longer the
party of the common people. They are as much in bed with corporations
as the Republican Party. The welfare reform of 1996 is a disaster
that needs to be corrected. The tax cut of 2001 largely benefited
George Bush's friends.
As an economic policy, it has not worked. The
Party leadership should do a better job with the media. The liberal
bias in the media is a fallacy hoisted on the country by Republican
Party operatives. The American media has been unfair to liberals in
general and to the Democratic Party specifically and they should be
held accountable.
This loss is an opportunity for soul searching by the Democratic
Party leadership. For the Party to survive, it has to go back to its
roots. The common people and their causes should be paramount to the
Party, or else many more nights like Tuesday, November 5, lie
ahead.
(The animation is derived from forgan high in Oklahoma).
Elendu is a contributing editor of
USAfricaonline.com
and NigeriaCentral.com.
He writes every
Friday, exclusively for USAfricaonline.com
Archiving of this essay on another web site is not
authorized; only web links are allowed.
|
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Impeachment
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Olusegun 
democratic way, which is not easy, would probably have been
done by taking arms or by -- with bullets. So, but with
democracy, of course, some people feel that this is the way
this should be, and then I have an opportunity to defend
myself. There is discussion. There is dialogue. There is a
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