• Recipe for a landslide Recipe for a landslide As Howard Dean rushes to the head of the pack of donkeys, many Democrats are proving that their memories aren’t as long as elephants’ are. In 1972, George McGovern lost in
• Recipe for a landslide
Recipe for a landslide
As Howard Dean rushes to the head of the pack of donkeys, many Democrats are proving that their memories aren’t as long as elephants’ are.
In 1972, George McGovern lost in a landslide after running a principled campaign based on opposition to the Vietnam War.
In 1984, Walter Mondale captured the imagination of the Democratic National Convention by proposing a tax increase. That didn’t exactly capture the imagination of the electorate.
In 1988, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., ran for president on a platform of economic nationalism. He lost, partly because opinion leaders – and voters – rejected his opposition to free trade.
Enter Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor. Dr. Dean’s campaign caught fire because of his principled opposition to the war in Iraq. He called for a tax increase to offset the huge deficit. And he joined other Democrats in calling for limitations on free trade. Throw in Mr. Dean’s progressive positions on gay unions and abortion and you’ve got a recipe for a Republican landslide.
There were and are good reasons to oppose war, to favor a more equitable tax structure, to worry about job losses due to free trade, and to favor gay unions and abortion rights. But someone has to wonder why a political agenda that combines losing planks from 1972, 1984 and 1988 is going to win in 2004.
Granted, it’s early to be anointing or writing off anyone. Nobody has voted. Sixteen years ago, the late Sen. Paul Simon led in the polls in Iowa at this point in the campaign. At this point in 1991, Bill Clinton had done little to distinguish himself from a pack of six candidates.
In addition, if Mr. Dean is nominated he will most likely veer to the middle and emphasize his relatively moderate record in Vermont. And maybe there’s some truth in the new conventional wisdom that the races this year are more likely to be won by energized party bases – strong liberals and conservatives – than by middle-of-the-roaders.
The capture of Saddam Hussein has provided the opportunity for some ill-tempered donkeys with poor memories to give Dr. Dean a good swift kick on national security in a particularly nasty television ad. They’ve forgotten another important lesson from Democratic history: Circular firing squads are hazardous to a party’s health.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
