Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Things are happening so fast I can hardly keep up. Let's start with the Democratic Platform. Follow these links, which I lifted from the Drudgereport, which had the good sense to put them together:
Dems Drop 'God' From Party Platform...
Jerusalem: Pro-Israel Language Removed...
Endorse taxpayer-funded abortions...
What this means is that Barack Obama -- a.k.a. the Great Unmasker -- has decided that the Democratic Party can dispense with and no longer really wants the support of Christians and Jews. They were in the past what dear departed comrade Lenin called "useful idiots," and they are no longer needed now.
These wounds, inflicted on the Democratic Party by itself, are entirely gratuitous.
Then, consider the state of the economy. As the Democratic National Convention meets, the national debt will reach sixteen trillion, 46.7 million Americans will be receiving food stamps, manufacturing will have dropped to or below the levels of July 2009, construction will have fallen like a stone, and the Republicans will soon be running advertisements based on these:
These wounds, inflicted by the Democratic Party on itself, are largely gratuitous.
None of this had to happen. It was a consequence of the Obama administration's decision to treat the economic crisis as an opportunity to transform America by shoving through measures like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. It was a consequence of their treating the so-called stimulus bill as an opportunity to enrich the constituencies supporting the party. It was a consequence of their insisting on raising taxes on the investor class in the middle of a recession. And, of course, it was a consequence of Obama's decision to say that, if he failed to bring unemployment down dramatically, he would be (and should be) a one-term President.
Even the mainstream press is beginning to realize that Barack Obama and those who put him in the office where he is right now conspired unwittingly to bring down the Democratic Party. Read this piece by Jodi Kantor that appeared in today's Pravda-on-the-Hudson, and look at the photograph. Then, read it again. The rats are starting to leave the ship.
I saw Pravda-on-the-Hudson turn on a sitting Democratic President once before. His name was James Earl Carter, and columnists like Tom Wicker and the news pages began in September and October, 1980 to prepare the party faithful for the disaster they discerned on the horizon. Their successors are doing the same right now.
Landslide, my friends, landslide. "Say it loud and it's like music playing. Say it soft and it's almost like praying."
And when you pray, be thankful for the Great Unmasker.
UPDATE: The latest ABC/Washington Post poll shows Obama's popularity at 47%, much lower than before, and his decline in the polls is due to women abandoning him. When it rains, it pours.
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Comments:
May '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Viator: Andrew Cuomo and Hillary are nowhere to be found. They are distancing themselves from the debacle.
Durbin was Obama's chief mentor. He might be doomed. · 1 minute ago
Durbin has a safe seat for life here in the kakistocratic Peoples Republic of Illinoistan.
Apr '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Better him then us.
Jun '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
My blood pressure pills are at the ready as I watch the idiocy and outright lies spewing forth from the podium at the DNC. I just took a moment and watched the DNC documentary on Ted Kennedy, the politician who should have been incarcerated for killing a woman and fleeing the scene of the crime and who should have never served in the Senate after that day. Rahm Emmanuel's ludicrous story about Obama in the Oval Office was so laughable and incredible, it seemed that it was prepared for an audience of first graders not adults. And Nancy Keenan's, President of the National Abortion Rights Action League - Pro-Choice America (NARAL) outrageous claim that Barack Obama is doing everything he can to support "the next generation of women" when, since Roe v. Wade many of last few generation's women have been killing tens of millions of unborn females (the next generation of women) - and if the Dems have their way - even after baby girls survive botched abortions as specified in their platform! Not sure if anyone has called this vile and abhorrent excuse for a human on this or not. So far the proceedings are fairly disgusting.
Jun '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
And this from the schedule of committee events listed:
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. Religious Liberty Panel - Catholics for Choice hosts a panel discussion on “Keeping Faith in the Democratic Party: Protecting Religious Liberty for Everyone,” featuring speakers from member organizations of the Coalition for Liberty & Justice.
Catholics for Choice? I thought the Church has been quite specific that Catholics cannot be for Choice since it's a clear conflict of the Church's teaching. As a former Catholic, I do still wish that the Church at some point make an example of "pro-choice" Catholics like Pelosi and Biden...but then that's me just being all mean-spirited and all.
Sep '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Paul Rahe: Landslide, my friends, landslide. "Say it loud and it's like music playing. Say it soft and it's almost like praying."
Yes, professor, but as Instapundit might caution, "Just say 'Maria' for now."
Jun '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Michelle O: I love Barack...his brother in Kenya...not so much.
Apr '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Professor Rahe, I love your optimism and, yes, the signs point to a Democratic loss. But I still worried, very worried.
Jul '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
I am gobsmacked. The wheels appear to be coming off at a quickening pace. Do they think they have nothing to lose at this point, or do they really think this is a winning maneuver?
Aug '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Dr Rahe's rationality reassures me. I can see the landslide and picture the states' results in November showing the Romney/Ryan win, state by state, red, red, red. Goodbye Obama and goodbye democrat blue!
Still, I know Obama is going after the voters who don't care about what is rational and right. They just want to read People magazine and get free stuff. The Obama campaign isn't going after whole sectors of voters, as in southern voters or white male voters. At the moment, they seem to be focusing on a national mass that doesn't want to think much, just wants to feel good.
I hope these people won't be motivated to get out on Nov 6 and vote. I really hope they are too lazy. The fact that I know they are there cuts into my vision of the red, red Republican map in the early hours of Nov 7.
Edited on September 5, 2012 at 4:32pmRe: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Only when marinated in Scotch . . .
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Stuart Creque
I'm Jewish, and I can tell you that Obama (with respect to Israel) is simply assessing that a lot of American Jews place their allegiance to liberalism ahead of their love of Israel. You can see in individuals like Peter Beinart and institutions like J Street the attitude that Israel is the problem, making life uncomfortable for American Jews. That attitude involves a massive amount of magical thinking, in which if Israel simply made the right set of concessions and said the right words, its enemies would instantly feel all their animosity and envy evaporate, peace would break out, and liberal American Jews would no longer have to feel defensive around their friends who berate them for Israel's "apartheid" policies and militaristic posture. · 9 hours ago
I am not Jewish, but this is what I suspect as well.
Aug '12
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
You forget he's the smartest person in whatever room he "is". He wanted the healthcare bill so badly he let Reid/Pelosi have their way (quid pro quo). He probably just dismissed the advice of some economic advisers post-stimulus, or he decided kicking the can down the road and doing nothing helped himself.
Emmanuel left because he saw the train wreck coming and was tired of being subservient to the egomaniac, so he found a job where he could be his own boss.
May '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
I hoped he wouldn't be elected in the first place and was stunned at the margin of his win in 2008. I was hoping for a long night and it was over in 90 mins.
I have to ask, Professor, what has been your record at assessing the results in past elections? I ask this because I, like many on this site, fear that WE are the ones who are not in touch with the real sense of the electorate. By that I mean: is this no longer the country we grew up in? Is it possible we think this should be the result because that's how America would have reacted in the past? Have the voting demographics (slacker youth, hands-0ut lower classes, brainwashed single-women, etc.) changed in such numbers that we don't see the president's majority?
I was listening to Steven Bannon today on a Dennis Miller podcast. He said the people in The Hope and the Change are those who have finally seen that the emperor has no clothes. But he also thinks most won't vote Romney; they'll just stay home.
Why wouldn't they vote Romney? Extremely worrisome.
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Keith Preston:
I have to ask, Professor, what has been your record at assessing the results in past elections? I ask this because I, like many on this site, fear that WE are the ones who are not in touch with the real sense of the electorate. By that I mean: is this no longer the country we grew up in? Is it possible we think thisshould be the result because that's how America would have reacted in the past? Have the voting demographics (slacker youth, hands-0ut lower classes, brainwashed single-women, etc.) changed in such numbers that we don't see the president's majority?
· 1 hour ago
My record is pretty good but not perfect. In 1970, the political science majors at Yale put together a pool regarding Senatorial elections. I was not a political science major, but I won. In September 2009, I predicted the rout of November 2010, but in October 2010 I overestimated its extent (I thought that we would take the Senate).
This year I am going out on a limb (as I did in 2009), but watch as things unfold!
Apr '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Keith Preston:
I was listening to Steven Bannon today on a Dennis Miller podcast. He said the people inThe Hope and the Change are those who have finally seen that the emperor has no clothes. But he also thinks most won't vote Romney; they'll just stay home.
Why wouldn't they vote Romney? Extremely worrisome. · 1 hour ago
In my view their resistance to voting for Romney stems from decades of vilification of the Republican party. As others have noted, the leftist/liberal view springs from emotionalism. Liberals are a force for good, therefore opponents must be bad, even evil. Is that not the tenor in Charlotte and on MSNBC? The cure is to grow up, which the government seeks to prevent.
Edited on September 5, 2012 at 4:30pmJun '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Very interesting to me, and sadly weird, were the repeated school related metaphors for performance in the NYT article. In the real world performance is mostly measured on a pass-fail basis. You either succeeded or did not succeed. Got paid or got fired. Obviously there are triumphs and close calls but in the end you did or did not perform. In school the result of a lot of effort and improvement is an ephemeral symbol of measurement. In school there are plenty of people for whom the grade is more important than the skill or knowledge learned. Thus the grade is about ego and approval not acquired skill or intellect. In Obama the school grades vernacular is yet another un-presidential tell - especially the remark about giving himself an “Incomplete”. When I was a student you could, with reason, “withdraw” from classes up to a certain point in the semester and avoid taking the F. I’m sure we can find an excuse, maybe he could bail out now…
Apr '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Just some items to add fuel to Dr. Rahe's fire:
-convention being moved indoors due to "weather" even though only 20% chance of rain and local weatherman says that the evening hours look to be the best weather of the week, fueling speculation that DNC can't fill big stadium
-network ratings for day 1 of DNC convention down 20-40%
Obama is not the same candidate as '08 and people have tuned out. His record is terrible and now all I read is how he will mop up Mitt at the debates. When this DOESN'T happen and the Oct polls finally start to reflect what Dr. Rahe predicts, these people will have a collective head explosion that will make Hiroshima look like a firecracker!! This is going to be so much fun!
Edited on September 5, 2012 at 6:44pmApr '11
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
sorry double-post
Edited on September 5, 2012 at 6:44pmMay '10
Re: Suicide: The Democratic Party's Self-Inflicted Wounds
Paul A. Rahe
In September 2009, I predicted the rout of November 2010, but in October 2010 I overestimated its extent (I thought that we would take the Senate).
You can be excused for that. If we had not had the O'Donnell/Angle/Buck effect in a few races, we would have taken out those last few weak sisters and re-taken the Senate.
Ok...I'm in. The main result of this election may be that we will discover if America is still America.