Arianna reminds us the Dems have flinched again on the “terror card” issue. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s “only claim to fame is that he carried a red state,” she says.
As I have opined previously, we know the rovians are going to play this card all year: they have told us this, straight up. So why don’t they take up the challenge of coming up with a “terror card” of their own. I agree with Arianna:
“I know I’ve said this before and before, but the Democrats will never become the majority party until they can prove to the American people that they have a better plan for keeping us safe. And that means having someone like Jack Murtha give the State of the Union response — someone with the authority to make the point that, on every level, Iraq is the wrong priority. And that the hundreds of billions already spent on Iraq (and the countless billions to come) would be better spent shoring up our ports, roadways, railways, securing our nuclear installations and chemical plants, and properly supporting our first responders.”
In case it’s slipped your mind, the “State of the Union” blatherings will take place next Tuesday, January 31st.
Cross-posted at www.seattlefordean.com and www.howieinseattle.com.
I couldn’t agree more on the “Murtha” thing. It frustrates me to NO END how the Dems are handling their current political situations. I wish I knew all the answers as to why we are the whiners and the girly men on the Hill these days. No spines, not many testicles up there, a couple of ovaries from Boxer….but that’s about it. I feel like my party is led by the Cowards and backed up by the Bawlbabies!
Yeah but lately the Dems seem to have lost their brains. It amazes me daily the faces the party put on the media to make our case. All them seem able to do is apologise for what they said the day before. As long as Rove is around spinning things like the NSA f’ing illegal eavesdropping scam into “terrorist survellence program” and the media repeats it as often as they do and we allow it we’re screwed. I even say forget Murtha and put someone like Hackett on that tells it like it is and won’t beat around the Bush, pun intended, and has been to Iraq we may get a truth or two out there. A woman is entitled to here dreams right?
I agree. It’s gotta be Murtha (or someone like that). Kaine’s a good guy, and it was a good win for him, but it doesn’t make sense.
Then there is this little gem from Yahoo news that mentions the liberal outcry from the blogs.
Yahoo!News
Murtha, Hackett, Wesley Clark…whoever. The Dems need to quit ignoring the Elephant in the Room: the Rovian smear and fear campaign against them. They are already winning on all the other issues.
Exactly Howie! What is so hard to comprehend is that if WE can see this why the hell can’t they?These are suppose to be bright, well educated people. Have they all had labotomies?
but he can’t carry the ball all by himself. Let’s not get carried away with yet another McCainish fantasy. Murtha is still a rightwing Dem on most issues. Which is OK. He should be a big voice on military and terrorism issues. He should not become the main face of the party.
Some of the suggestions even here show how timid we’ve become as liberals/lefties and as Democrats. Dems will gain ground to the extent that they return to their roots in their only two significant achievements: the New Deal and the Great Society. They need to speak proudly of that history and their intention to fulfill the hopes and ideas from which those achievements were built.
Forget Kaine and Lieberman and Landrieu and the rest of the phony “center”. The folks who speak to my party include Boxer, Conyers, Hackett, maybe Durbin and Obama, and a whole bunch that don’t come to my mind immediately. Like the poet said, the “center” cannot hold. It can’t win elections, either.
Gov. Kaine, opponent of gay marriage, the face of the Democratic party in response to W. Wonderful.
From the WaPo:
The state Senate all but guaranteed on Wednesday that Virginia will hold a November referendum on whether to amend its 230-year-old Bill of Rights to bar same-sex marriages.…
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) does not have to review the amendment resolution. He could veto a separate bill that specifically calls for the November referendum, but press secretary Delacey Skinner said he will not do so