What the Democrats Don't Understand

So much anger was prompted by Zell Miller"s speech at the Republican National Convention; so much anger, and so much adoration. Most of it focused on his point-by-point recitation of John Kerry"s defense voting record in his 20 years of being a U.S. Senator, not to mention his cynical joke about spitballs.

When Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC"s Hardball, tried to target Miller, leveling accusations in his interview and refusing to give him a chance to respond, Miller"s infamous challenge of a duel only increased his stature further in the eyes of the red half of the country, and made him look even more deranged in the eyes of the blue half.

In the midst of all of Zell"s righteous anger was one line, one brilliant line that went unnoticed not only in the entire media response to his speech, but by the convention-goers themselves, for whom this line was partially swallowed by enthusiastic cheering.

That line goes as follows: 'It is not their patriotism, but their judgment, that is so sorely lacking.' This one line encapsulates the Republican view of John Kerry"s voting record. It encapsulates everything that is wrong with Kerry"s faltering campaign. It encapsulates everything that has been wrong with Democratic protestations over the past three years.

The Democrats fail to realize this, but not one right-wing statesman has tried to accuse their party of being 'unpatriotic.' They whine and complain about it all the time, claiming that right-wingers try and paint them as being Communist, in league with terrorists, and 'America-haters.' But the truth is that such statements are found only in the realm of far-right radio show hosts, not in that of legitimate politicians.

Republican spokesmen limit themselves to attacking specifics. They attack Ted Kennedy"s history of voting to slash defense and intelligence funds. They attack John Kerry"s history of failing to show up to Senate Intelligence Committee meetings, even after Sept. 11, 2001. They attack President Clinton"s history of ignoring the growing threat of terror during eight years of presidential complacency. But not once have they ever described these people as being unpatriotic. This is because, under the official view of the Republican Party, it is not the Democrats" patriotism, but their judgment, that is so sorely lacking.

Yet the Kerry campaign, along with so many Democrats who ran for--and lost--legislative seats in the 2002 election, fails to realize this. They whine; they make speeches and waste interviews complaining that the Republican attack machine paints them as 'unpatriotic.'

But they fail to realize that, in the public eye, this simply isn"t true. While Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh might make these accusations on a daily basis, the American public has never--and will never--attribute those statements to President Bush or Vice President Cheney. The majority of the American public doesn"t even listen to Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh, whose target demographics consist solely of the choir.

In other words, in the eye of the American public, John Kerry keeps insisting he isn"t unpatriotic without anybody"s ever claiming the contrary. In the eye of the American public, John Kerry"s protestations do not differ greatly from Richard Nixon"s famous 'I am not a crook' or Bill Clinton"s 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.' In all cases, the repeated denials only serve to reinforce the public"s perception that the accusations are true.

In this case, if John Kerry wants to have any chance of winning, he has to do two things. First, he must seek to provide a satisfactory explanation to the public for his horrendous Senate voting record and abysmal attendance record at the Senate Intelligence meetings. And I mean an explanation: no sidestepping, and no claiming that these charges 'attack his patriotism.'

Second, he must lay off the 'patriotism' bit, especially the part where he tries in vain to attack the patriotism of the Republicans. It makes him look petty when he attempts to explain away his Senate record by trying to resurrect the Bush Air National Guard 'scandal.' Such insults make it look like the Kerry campaign is trying to avoid Kerry"s own Senate history with childish posturing of 'Well, I"m more patriotic than you, so there!'

Remember the mistakes of Max Cleland. You can"t run only on your Vietnam service; not when you have a voting history that voters don"t like and constantly question. You can"t win an election on patriotism. Not when your judgment is being called into question.

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