With the frenzy of election crunch time upon us, one would think that the unfolding of recent events from Washington to Pyongyang has spelled doom for Republican incumbents hoping to retain their jobs in Congress come Nov. 8. Pick one major political happening from the past month, and it should be soaked with enough public discontent to tip the scales of legislative power back to the Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Indeed, the Grand Old Party has given voters a collection of grand old reasons to boot them from the ranks of Congressional party majority. The Iraq debacle. The blatant disregard for America's legal principles, reflected by the atrocious torture bill signed into law at the behest of Republicans who were well aware that certain provisions trampled on the Constitution. The failure of party leaders to crack down on sexual predator Mark Foley as he stalked teenage pages. New evidence exposing the Bush administration's continuous cover-ups of its foreign policy blunders. Jack Abramoff's revelation that the Republican Party is for sale, documenting a trail of corruption that prompted the early retirement of the house majority leader. Numerous investigations of Republican lawmakers for using their positions of authority to secure favors for corporate and political allies. A president supposedly "tough on national security" who has helped increase the incidence of worldwide terrorism — as admitted by his own State Department. A "war on terror" that has failed to catch the greatest single terrorist threat to the United States — Osama bin Laden — while allowing the greatest state threat — North Korea — to successfully enrich its nuclear weapons program.
Reeling from the scandals that have pinned them up as the poster boys of hypocrisy, the self-proclaimed "moral Republicans" have proven to be anything but; exposed as the party of the dishonest, the delirious and the deviant. But they do have one thing going for them: their opponents in the Democratic Party have proven thoroughly inept at capitalizing. Unable to unify behind one coherent message or one core issue, the Democrats have performed like one lame ass, standing around watching while the elephants in the room crap all over themselves.
The Dems' campaign blunders eerily resemble their mistakes of 2004, when, cowering in fear of being labeled weak on national security, they attempted to straddle the line between supporting and opposing the occupation of Iraq, with a candidate who was simultaneously a decorated military veteran and an avid anti-war protestor. Two years and thousands of Iraqi war victims later, campaign backdrops remain the same. Unfortunately, so does the Democrats' strategy.
One can't help but wonder why the Dems didn't embed themselves firmly into the anti-war camp back in September, after Connecticut Senator (and closet Republican) Joe Lieberman was embarrassed in the Democratic primary by outspoken Iraq critic Ned Lamont. The appeal of the anti-war candidate has been evident in races around the country. In Pennsylvania, former long-shot Democrat Joe Sestak — who defied party strategists' consultation and made pulling U.S. troops from Iraq the cornerstone of his Congressional campaign — is pulling ahead of 20-year Republican incumbent Curt Weldon. In the crucial battleground state of Ohio, the GOP has announced it will reduce financial support for Sen. Mike DeWine on the brink of his likely defeat by Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who has used his opposition to the war as a rallying cry.
At the source of the Democrats' incompetence is plain, naked fear. They're afraid to take a stand and articulate what a majority of citizens have long been thinking — that the Iraq war was a grave mistake. They're afraid to push a prompt and precise plan for withdrawing American forces from the region. They're afraid to protect the legal foundations of this country from a president on a trip over his Constitutional war powers. Why? Because, like in 2004, they don't want to appear weak on national security.
But if the Democrats are weak on national security, it is not because they lack the audacity to fight terrorism or the infamous "axis of evil." It is because they have forgotten what makes citizens "secure" — high-quality employment opportunities, good schools, affordable health care and a social safety net. Building a principled political platform around these domestic programs — programs that the Republicans have thoroughly neglected — is what once made the Democrats the "party of the people." They must return to their roots and have the courage to vocalize the reality: that the nation's imploding health care structure, sluggish economy, deteriorating education system and pillaged environment present far greater threats to the everyday lives of citizens than shadowy networks of terrorists scattered around the world.
If the Democrats acquire the 15 House and six Senate seats that they need to win back Congress — which, despite the inadequacies of their campaign strategies, is quite possible — it will be more a consequence of citizens' discontent with the GOP than voters' enthusiasm for Democratic candidates or their party platforms. On the flip side, if the Republicans retain a stellar majority — and go on to take the White House for a third term — it will be a result not of the Republicans' cunning but the Democrats' cowardice.
Adam Lichtenheld ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and African studies.
