Please don’t tell the Democrats that it’s really not a good idea to alienate the 52 percent of American voters who cast their ballots for George W. Bush last week. Don’t tell the Democrats that calling the majority of the American electorate a bunch of racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, ignorant, religious-fanatic rubes and boobs really won’t do if you want to carve off a piece of that electorate for yourself next time around.
Don’t tell the Dems that it’s not good to sound off like Sidney Blumenthal in the U.K. Guardian:
“Using the White House as a machine of centripetal force, [Karl] Rove spread fear and fused its elements. Fear of the besieging terrorist, appearing in Bush TV ads as the shifty eyes of a swarthy man or a pack of wolves, was joined with fear of the besieging queer. Bush’s support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was underscored by referendums against it in 11 states – all of which won.
“The evangelical churches became instruments of political organisation. Ideology was enforced as theology, turning nonconformity into sin, and the faithful, following voter guides with biblical literalism, were shepherded to the polls as though to the rapture. White Protestants, especially in the south, especially married men, gave their souls and votes for flag and cross. The campaign was one long revival….
“While Kerry ran on mainstream traditions of international cooperation and domestic investments, and transparency and rationality as essential to democratic government, Bush campaigned directly against these very ideas. At his rallies, Bush was introduced as standing for ‘the right God’.”
Mockery of the war on terrorism mixed with contempt for religion–not a good idea. But please don’t tell the Dems, you Republicans. You want to keep on winning, so you want the Blumenthals of this world to keep on ranting.
So, please, Charles Krauthammer, don’t call the Dems’ attention to stuff like this. You’re a conservative guy, and you’re supposed to back the Republicans, not proffer counsel to the losing party that could help it win the next time around. When I read your syndicated column this morning, I asked myself: Why is he letting the cat out of the bag? You write:
“In the postelection analyses, the liberal elite just about lost its mind denouncing the return of medieval primitivism. Maureen Dowd of The New York Times achieved the highest level of hysteria, cursing the GOP for pandering to ‘isolationism, nativism, chauvinism, puritanism and religious fanaticism’ in its unfailing drive to ‘summon our nasty devils.’
“Whence comes this fable? With President Bush increasing his share of the vote among Hispanics, Jews, women (especially married women), Catholics, seniors and even African-Americans, on what does this victory-of-the-homophobic-evangelical rest?”
No, no, no, Charles! Don’t even ask questions like that! Of course the myth of the “Bigoted Christian Redneck,” as you call it, the fanatical white gay-baiter who supposedly swayed the 2004 elections, is exactly that–a myth. Just like the myth of the “Angry White Men,” offered as you say as the explanation for the Republican revolution in Congress in 1994.
But you’re not supposed to tell the Democrats that, Charles. C’mon! You want them to believe their own myths and fritter way their energies chasing hysteria-fed memes like this latest one about the Rove-rigged vote-counting machines that spit out “Bush” whenever “Kerry” was punched in. You want those Dems to rave and rave and rave, and then lose and lose and lose.