If Democrats are one thing, they are thorough.
As the presidential election continues to hang in the balance of
multiple — and illegal — manual recounts in the state of Florida,
Democratic spinmeisters and operatives are hard at work at a public
relations campaign designed to make sure that even if Al Gore loses his
bid for the White House when all is said and done, that Democrats aren’t
excluded from power altogether.
I fear there are some Democrats who would literally die off if they
couldn’t control somebody’s life.
I’ve said this multiple times — Democrats are not about the honor,
integrity, and dutiful execution of constitutional government in this
country anymore. They are about power — pure, simple, and always. They
don’t care how they get it, just that they do get it —
even if, as the Florida race has proven, they have to steal it.
One idea — or, rather, one component — of the ongoing
Democratic strategy to retain some modicum of power after this election
is finally over, has been to wage a public relations campaign to “win
the hearts and minds of the people.” The mainstream press has been very
compliant, helping Democrats at every turn.
In doing so, an idea that began circulating just shortly after Gore’s
campaign began to pick and choose certain Florida counties to recount
because it was behind in the race is continuing to circulate, unabated
and aided by media soulmates, behind the scenes.
Simply put, it is this notion that if Bush wins the White House and
Republicans continue to control both the House and Senate, that ain’t
fair and there ought to be a “power sharing arrangement” put in place.
As if “fair” ever entered into the political equation when Democrats are
in power.
You’ll notice also that the Democrats did not demand such an amicable
power-sharing arrangement in 1993, after Bill Clinton won his first term
and while Democrats controlled both Houses in Congress. Typical.
Now that there is a possibility Republicans may control all the
political marbles inside the Beltway, Democrats are going nuts trying to
figure out a way to remain relevant and in control of something.
On Friday
CNN ran a story about how Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and
the Senate minority leader, is running around telling any geek with a microphone and a TV camera that a power sharing arrangement with the congressional GOP is the only decent thing to do, given the slim majorities Republicans hold in both chambers.
I’m assuming this idea is a good one to CNN, because on the basis of newsworthiness, this story has absolutely none. So, they must have written it because they agree with Daschle and the other Democrats who support this lunacy.
Anyway, Daschle said Republicans ought to consider a power sharing arrangement that, according to former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh, a Democrat who is now a U.S. senator, “was so much more productive and amicable than anyone predicted at the time.”
According to Daschle, Bayh and CNN, Indiana’s House was evenly split, so lawmakers got together and decided to rotate the speakership.
Democrats now hold that up as “historic” and a wonderful idea, but the thing is, Democrats always say that about plans that include them.
However, like little immature children, when they don’t get their way, they scream bias, they shout about how monumentally “unfair” it all is and how “nasty and evil” Republicans — in the words of former Clinton administration Secretary of State Warren Christopher — thwart “the will of the people.”
If you disagree with that, then you haven’t been paying much attention to what Democrats are doing in Florida. As long as things have gone their way, they’re fine; it’s when they don’t that they sue, complain, cry foul and vow revenge.
Power sharing may have indeed been a good idea in Indiana, but it’s not what the Democrats offered in 1993 and it’s not what the Democrats would offer now, if they were in power in both Houses and looking at a definitive Gore win. That much is obvious.
Also, power sharing goes completely against the idea of competing political parties and ideologies: after all, if lawmakers are just going to end up “sharing power,” what is the reason behind belonging to a particular political party? Why — if we’re “sharing” — do lawmakers have competing ideas about governing?
And why do whiny Democrats want to share power now, when hell would have to freeze over before they would agree to do so if they were up by a slim majority in both Houses and in Florida?
The public relations battle being waged in Florida over counts, recounts, and more recounts is just one aspect of trying to win people to the side of Democrats. Flack Daschle and Co. are busy trying to win over the same people in a bid to hang onto relevance if the Florida vote goes against Gore.
It’s pitiful, childish, and absolutely typical of a party that doesn’t give a damn anymore about the proper, constitutional rule of law in America.
To Democrats, controlling the federal government isn’t about working for the people — it’s just about “being there.”
Let’s curb the kangaroo court of anonymous sources
Tim Graham