Gene Lyons to Congressional Dems: Stop Being so Friggin' Nice and Hit Repubs Where It Hurts!

[BurtWorm]

Actually what he said follows:

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/212492/

No more Nice Guy

Gene Lyons

Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2008

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Nobody asked, but if I were a congressional Democrat, I’d have two New Year’s resolutions. One: No more Mr. Bipartisan Nice Guy. Two: Less substance, more political theater. If you haven’t noticed, 2008 is an election year. Also, Democrats hold small majorities in both houses. Hence, mewling cries are being heard that ugly partisan wrangling is preventing Americans from joining together in one big joyous hootenanny and solving our problems. One Democratic presidential candidate, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, appears to be basing his campaign on this fond delusion, although his “bipartisanship” consists largely of attacking rivals’ motives while recycling right-wing scare stories like the imaginary Social Security crisis, then offering himself as a healer. It’s the old Adlai Stevenson / Jimmy Carter toopure-for-politics pose. Hearing it from a career Chicago politician may be a bit much, but there’s always an audience for sentimentality.

But the most insistent proponents of mushmelon bipartisanship are pundits like The Washington Post’s David Broder, forever cautioning Democrats about the political perils of not giving President Bush whatever he wants. “The Dean” recently cautioned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that “public approval ratings for Congress have sunk below their level when Republicans were still in control,” warning that “in less than a year, the voters will deliver their own verdict.” Now as even Broder concedes, Democrats in Congress are measurably more popular than Republicans (40 percent favorable to 32 percent ). They also exceed Bush’s favorability ratings, which remain near rock-bottom. Diehard GOP partisans aside, most Americans have basically given up on this White House and are simply waiting for Bush to go away.

Polls also show that on most critical issues—Iraq, health care, energy policy—healthy majorities favor Democratic solutions. To the extent that congressional Democrats are unpopular, it’s mainly their failure to end the Iraq war. It’s become common to hear denunciations of Democratic “cowardice” on the issue.

Call me jaded, but my attitude can best be summarized by something the late Sen. Bobby Kennedy told a friend of mine: “You don’t have to be a genius to succeed in politics, but you do have to be able to count.” The reason congressional Democrats haven’t ended the war is that Bush won’t budge and they simply can’t make him. He plans to pass the whole mess on to his successor along with (he hopes ) the blame for whatever disasters follow U. S. withdrawal. Alas, getting out of Baghdad won’t be as simple as issuing 150, 000 airline tickets. Pulling the plug on war funding has melodramatic appeal, but it wouldn’t be a real-world option even if the Democratic leadership had the votes, which they manifestly do not.

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[mzmolly]

1. Excellent suggestions.

One: No more Mr. Bipartisan Nice Guy. Two: Less substance, more political theater.

:toast:

One more rec for ya BW. :hi:

[BurtWorm]

2. Thank you, mzmolly.

:hi:

[TacticalPeek]

3. K&R

:kick:

[hfojvt]

4. I am glad Gene is in my local paper

but here he seems to want to hit Obama where it hurts. Is the Arkansan endorsing Hillary then?

[BurtWorm]

5. kick

[hayu_lol]

6. Gene has been a hell of a voice for Liberals over the past few years...

although probably a bit heavy for the 'progressives' who just seem to practice 'want to get along' bipartisanship--which of course, will not work.

I suppose in a 1000 years, we could eventually smother the right wing with kindness.