Rahm Emanuel: Democratic Time Bomb
by RJ Eskow | September 24, 2006 - 9:26am
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/947....On the other hand, his (Rahm's) strategy of targeting key races makes a lot more sense to me that Dean's 50-state strategy, although there's an argument to be made for bringing the fight to every race, too. The mixed strategy that Emanuel and Dean forged through Cold War-like diplomacy may be the best way to go in the long run.
But what is the long-term impact of a Democratic Congressional victory, if it will ensconce the likes of Rahm Emanuel at the heart of party power? The Democrats lost Congress because they appeared fearful, poll-driven, and opportunistic.
Paradoxically, acting with integrity wasn't only the right moral and ethical stance. We've learned from recent elections that it would also have been the best electoral strategy. Harry Truman said it best: "In a race between a Republican and a Republican, the Republican wins every time."
If a confluence of events and Republican ineptness hands control of Congress back to this bunch, and they don't act with more conviction and courage than they've shown so far, they'll just lose it again - and the nation will suffer in the meantime.
If they're even paying attention, Emanuel et al. probably dismiss criticism from people like Willis and me as meaningless baying from the blogospheric fringes. That's because they fail to see that their cynicism may be doing long-term damage to their party, at its base. The Democratic faithful may begin to suffer from might be called "Pete Townshend syndrome": "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
If that's the case, an Emanuel-driven victory may do severe damage to the Party's core. Their party-bossism is a ticking time bomb at the heart of the Democratic Party. I don't want them to lose this November. Far from it. But they ignore these warning signs at the party's peril.