Dems unified by hatred

"It will mean exiling the Whoopi Goldbergs of the world and perhaps quietly suggesting to George Soros and Michael Moore that little more can be gained by comparing the president of the United States to Adolf Hitler"

I just took my afternoon stroll along Independence Avenue where the familiar DNC "red-shirts" were doing their daily duty of getting people registered with the DNC. Something was different this time. For the past two months, the college-aged volunteers would challengingly inquire: "Would you like to help defeat George Bush?" With that self-righteous confidence that comes from a year or two of enlightened university training, they were ready to cut their intellectual teeth on any person with enough free time on their hands to enter into a debate.

Today, however, a slightly more conservative (no tattoos or nose rings) group of young men asked in a friendly, non-confrontational tone, "Would you like to help John Kerry become President." One asked me, and I politely said no thanks and walked on.

It doesn't matter what party or group it is, I love political strategy. I see it as an art, an art of influencing people. It's an art of taking someone who has nothing in common with you or your cause and making them feel that you are soldiers in the same foxhole. I cringe when I see bad political strategy or tactics. I remember a couple years back, a large Pro-Israel group staged a rally on the National Mall. There were Israeli flags and American flags and Soccer Moms and hot dogs (Hebrew Nationals, I'm sure) and V-neck sweaters and penny loafers, etc., etc. It was as American as apple pie. Probably most Americans didn't watch it, but if they had stumbled upon it, they would have felt comfortable in the crowd. A week or so later, the Palestinians had their rally. Young men doning Hamas-style masks, Communist flags, anarchists, women yelling about oppression, upside-down American flags, and enough Che Guevara shirts to blanket La Paz. It was angry, it was foreign (not in the fun Octoberfest way), it was virulently un-American, and it was scary.

The sheer failure of their rally when compared to the Israeli rally grated on me like fingernails on a chalkboard. It's not that I'm pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, it's just that I think in terms of targeting an audience and effectively communicating a message. It seems that the Democrats are belatedly attempting to soften the Bush-bashing platform for a more positive message. It will be difficult for them to keep the blood of their liberal core from boiling over every five minutes, but this is their best shot at getting those swing voters who have already been gravitating towards Bush's positive platform. They are, however, fighting against a monster of their own making--and one that has taken on a life of its own.

Dems unified by hatred=The Hill.com=