Conventions vs. the People

Ann Coulter says the Democrats hid their true views in order to make their convention palatable to the public, or to the famous swing voters.

The only "issues" Democrats dare discuss publicly are the things everyone can agree on: They are for "jobs," a good economy and the middle class. None of their blather ever touches on any issue on which Democrats and Republicans could possibly disagree.

The issues on which the parties differ are: pre-emptive attacks on terror-producing nations, gay marriage, gun control, partial-birth abortion, taxes, letting non-citizens and felons vote. But the Democrats won't talk about those issues. This is the Democrats' week to make-believe they are Republicans for the folks watching at home on TV. In the lingo of the delegates, this is "story time."

But won't the Republicans do the same thing in reverse? Haven't we already heard they're going to have keynote speakers who are pro-choice, favour wide open stem cell research, and favour balanced budgets over tax cuts?

Coulter chooses her list of "dividing" issues very carefully. Partial-birth abortion--not abortion in general, and not stem-cell research, or "therapeutic" cloning. Taxes, but not balanced budgets. Gay marriage, which I guess is better for getting out the vote in the U.S. than it is in Canada--but still, hardly likely to help Republicans win the swing voters.

It's an old story. The people who are most committed to political parties either have a particular axe to grind (or business to protect, like the monopoly public school system), or they are "ideological," more or less predictably left or right, across the board. They quite likely differ from most voters precisely in that they are so political, and if they can be persuaded to calm down, they will disguise themselves a bit in order to win votes. Reagan sounded like a real conservative, but his record shows lots of spending and big government, and in any case the Democrats kept winning the legislative branch. Voters could be assured they were being given lots of programs, while being told they didn't have to pay for them. Christmas all year round.

Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:06 pm MST by robertll | Email Article |

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Conventions vs. the People