Here's my entry into the "What the Democrats Oughta Do whirlwind." I figure, everyone else is playing so I can play, too. What I think they oughta do is find a candidate. I don't think there's anything wrong with the Democratic platform or philosophy or battle plan —
Okay, maybe the battle plan. They're too worried about being called anti-religion or anti-American or anti-family or anti-military, and so they back down, as if the Republicans aren't going to call them all that, anyway. So far, and I may change my mind if he takes it in ugly directions, I like the fact that Howard Dean seems to be moving past all that. He's a good speaker and if he's going to go out there and call this Administration on some of its inconsistencies and misrepresentations, fine. Someone's gotta say it, and Democrats are dumb if they think the press is ever going to fulfill that function.
But as I was saying, I don't think there's anything wrong with what the Democrats are doing except that they don't have a candidate…and at this stage, it doesn't even have to be the person who might really be on the ticket in '08. They just have to prove there'll be some viable choices. Bush is unpopular and getting more so by the minute. More and more, Americans think the War in Iraq just ain't worth what it's costing us in lives (we just passed the 1,700 mark) and grief and money. More and more, Americans see the Bush economic program as a scheme to relieve the Super-Rich of the burden of paying for government and to shift it onto lower and middle-class working stiffs and destroy their Social Security at the same time. Even though Bush himself can't run again, it's a great track record to run against.
The trouble is, you can't beat something with nothing. "The Republican way is bad" is only half the sales pitch. The other half — the half they're missing — is offering up someone who can do better. Who might that be?
I don't think it's Hillary Clinton. Too much baggage. We'd spend the whole election talking about the Clinton marriage and her sexuality and Vince Foster and Whitewater and all those topics that we're all sick of, even if we think they're unfair accusations. We'd wind up talking about everything except what she might do in office. I also don't think it's Joe Biden. He's a smart guy but he seems to have every bad personal quality that made people think Al Gore was a boring policy wonk.
Maybe it's this guy. The link is to a Salon interview with Virginia governor Mark Warner. I don't know a whole lot about him but the last three Democrats who won the White House were all Southerners and that alone makes him worth a look-see. We also seem to like to put governors in the White House, as opposed to senators. The few times I've heard him speak he sounded good, and the interview (which unless you subscribe to Salon can't be read in full without viewing ads or buying a day pass, I believe) has him saying a lot of the right things.
This is not an endorsement. I just think the Democrats need a face to display, and his is the first one that I could begin to imagine on the 2008 presidential ticket. One hopes there will be more from which to pick.