The Holy Grail
To listen to a number of lame-brained Democrats you'd think the Holy Grail was not the chalice Jesus drank out of before his crucifixion but instead the idea of winning back the Southern United States in the next presidential election.
Every election we hear the same tired song from the Southern wing of the Democratic party. "Nominate a Southerner" they say and you'll magically not only win the White House but win back the Senate and the House as well! And every election the Democratic party falls for this line of reasoning, and every election all these conservative Democrats running for Senate seats in places like Georgia and South Carolina lose, and lose badly.
There it is! Hiding in Georgia!
You'd think this year would be different but no, it's sadly turning out to be exactly the same. Except this year the holy grail is John Edwards and he's supposed to be the ticket to the Democrats winning at least one Southern state and maybe electing enough conservative Democrats to win back the Senate. Don't hold your breath because it's all a fallacy and I have a feeling that those encouraging the Dems to waste their time and money in the deep South are Republican operatives who don't want the Dems to focus on winning where they really have a chance, in places like Arizona, New Hampshire and West Virginia.
History is on my side in this argument. In 2002 the Dems put up conservative candidates for Senate in both Florida and South Carolina. "This is going to be the year" the Southern Democrats crowed, the candidate in South Carolina was so conservative he even attempted to smear his Republican opponent by suggesting he was gay! On election day all these candidates lost and lost badly, in addition Max Cleland in Georgia was defeated. If the Dems had spent their money more wisely and not poured it down the Republican rat hole that is the South maybe we wouldn't have lost the Senate!
The issue here is that you can't out-Republican the Republicans. If people want to vote for a conservative they know that a Republican is their best bet, not a Democrat acting like a Republican. In addition don't we have enough problems with Benedict Arnold-like traitors in the Democratic party like Georgia senator Zell Miller, who's become increasing unbalanced in his last year in office and has even endorsed George Bush for re-election?
Let's take a look at one of these "Democrats" running for the senate. This one from (gulp) South Carolina! Her name is Inez Tenenbaum and if you think she's Jewish you're right on target. Strike number one against Inez in the middle of the bible belt. Her positions make her sound like a Republican. She's for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, she's for the death penalty, increased spending on the military, pro-war in Iraq and calls herself "pro-family." In other words old Inez is a Republican in the making and why would a South Carolinian vote for a Democrat who says the same things as a Republican? Yet supposedly Inez is one our most "promising candidates" as a recent appeal I received from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee puts it.
The issue here is that Kerry would be far better served by putting a Democrat on the ballot who will rally the party faithful and give up this lame idea that a Southerner on the ticket will help win the South. It didn't work for Michael Dukakis when he put Texan Lloyd Bentsen on the ticket and it's certainly not going to help Kerry. The South is Republican territory and the sooner we accept this and move on to where we can really win the better the Democratic party will be.
2:19:35 PM 
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