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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 8, 2004 How to build a better Democrat Rob Asghar If you can't beat 'em, sue 'em. If you can't sue 'em, stay at home for four years and wait for this whole thing to blow over. The Democratic Party proved anew that it's as stiff and lifeless as a cadaver. As has been observed here in the past, the party is on its best day just a cane that voters use to whack over-exuberant Republicans back into line. I had hoped that the nation would use the umbrella to bonk away at the Bush Administration last Tuesday. It didn't happen, and the administration now feels vindicated despite its costly failures abroad and at home. If you're a true liberal in the Ashlandian sense, I know what you're thinking: a) The voting public is insane. b) Canada is looking better and better. c) Democrats need to stop trying to move to the center and instead turn left. Only a and b are true. The c response is patently false. Kerry's close electoral-college loss would have been a bee swarm of defeat for the Democrats if he'd moved away from the center. Kerry was a pro-peace candidate who hyped up his jingoism; a big-government advocate who promised he wouldn't raise taxes for the middle-class. He was a pro-gay-rights candidate who nuanced his views by opposing gay marriage. He was a pro-abortion candidate who acted as though he detested it. When Bushites used the "L" word to describe him, Kerry ran screaming, argued that "labels don't matter," and even claimed once to be the true champion of "conservative values." Kerry's efforts to hide his liberalism under a bushel damn near worked; he was able to position himself as Bush Lite - 90 percent of the conservatism, with less than half the incompetence. And with just a few more votes here and there, Kerry would be starting drafts of an inaugural speech right about now. Do you believe he would have scared up more votes if he said, "I intend to ensure that every 13-year-old is able to have an abortion without telling her folks in case the condom she got at school fails"? Or if he said, "Teresa and I intend to have Mary Cheney and her main squeeze over for dinner every Saturday"? Or if he said, "I want to tax a lot of people back to the Stone Age so that we can put this deficit to bed"? Of course not. Thus, Democrats must continue to move to the center. And they must get better at acting comfortable there. Here are a few suggestions for the party, based on the current facts on the ground, as they say. First, get comfortable with Bubba. Work on your barbecuing skills. And don't ever, ever, ever, ever put a New-Englander or northeasterner at the top of the ticket again. Even if it's Ronald Reagan's great-great-grandson. You saw the vast swath of red states on your television screen last week; you would need to take a considerable detour on a trip from Oregon to Florida if you wanted to visit a blue state Stuckey's. Red staters simply won't vote for a Yankee. Only one of the past five Dems to earn the White House came from outside the South or a border state; as for JFK, he barely snuck out a win. Second, let go of the would-be Clinton Dynasty. For one thing, Hillary's a New Yorker now, no longer a Southerner. And fairly or unfairly, she's one of the most polarizing figures in recent history, not the unifying presence that Democrats desperately need. The country will come down with serious Bush fatigue by 2006. If Democrats are standing by as a voice of reason positioned near the political center, they just may pull off a Lazarus act. Rob Asghar is an independent writer and editor who has been published in nearly 30 newspapers around the world. He has been an editor of management books and a ghostwriter for major figures in business and academia. Contact him at [email protected]. His Web site is www.dimestoreguru.com. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams