Is This a Parody?
It's hard to believe anybody could be so
completely non-compos as to write this tripe. When asked what the Democrats need to do, Diane Glass says:
Like Buddha and Shaunti advise, take the middle road, Democrats! Stop voting for the tree hugger with the most liberal record. We have to live with conservatives, so let’s pretend we care about them. It’s called a bait and switch strategy, which is a lot like what we’re about to experience over the next four years.
You want to run for president? Wear baseball caps and drink beer in an aluminum can. This imparts a quaint, guy-next-door persona. Voters will want to have a beer with you, talk to you and share a few laughs. You’ll be the kind of president everyone can understand, not the scary intellectual who can outsmart them.
Mispronounce a few words. Don’t strive for flawless oratory. This only challenges our collective intelligence. It makes us feel like we didn’t study enough before turning on the television. People don’t like to think while watching TV. When in doubt, look energetic.
Jeez, Diane, those are brilliant suggestions; so brilliant that Kerry used almost of them (he couldn't quite bring himself to drink beer out of a can). But he did wear baseball caps, and threw baseballs and footballs around the tarmac. He started mispronouncing words ("idear" for "idea" most notably). He did drink beer (or at least, he made sure to be photographed with beer bottles occasionally.
It is exactly this sort of atttitude that cost the Democrats this election; that they have to lie to people (bait and switch), that they have to pretend to be just folks, that they can win, in short, by being phony. Perhaps it's just natural given that they perceive Bush as this big phony themselves.
