(2002-10-23) — Democrat candidates across the nation are begging reporters to ask them about the antics of their own scandal-plagued party.
Rather than answer questions about substantive issues, candidates are willing to wallow in their sins of the past and present.
When asked about foreign policy, former Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, said, “Let’s talk about how the governor illegally put my name on the ballot just weeks before the election. And then how the Democrat-heavy state Supreme Court backed him up on it. By the way, don’t forget I’m from the party that brought you Bob ‘The Torch’ Torricelli.”
Senator Max Baucus, D-MT, when asked about global trade said, “Did you know I’ll be the grand marshal in the Heterosexual Pride Day parade? I just want to emphasize that I ran some ads implying that my opponent is gay, even though he’s not. “
Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-MO, seeking to win the office for the first time in her own right, after inheriting it from her dead husband, was questioned about her economic plan.
“Wouldn’t you rather talk about how I was illegally placed on the ballot?” she asked. “And remember, the polling places in St. Louis were kept open late — again illegally — so I could win.”
In South Dakota, Democrat candidates are eager to talk about how their party paid a worker to canvas Indian reservations and register voters, many of whom were dead.
And the list goes on. In almost every state, Democrat candidates want to talk about anything but the issues. Some candidates even invite Al Gore to stump for them. The faithful refer to Mr. Gore as ‘the Ed McMahon of the DNC.’
Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe, the mind behind the strategy, said, “Our surveys show that people are more interested in the ‘human drama of political competition’ to paraphrase the old ABC Sports intro. If we let those Republicans keep the focus on issues like defense, trade, taxes, the judiciary, the economy and such, we’re doomed. We’ve demonstrated that our candidates can win even when they’re tarred and feathered, but we can’t win a debate.”
Mr. McAuliffe said voters don’t elect the best candidate, but the most entertaining candidate.
“If we could get Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin to run, we’d finance that in a New York minute,” he said. “The GOP recruits smart leaders, we recruit characters. That’s how we’ve dominated American politics for half a century, and we’re not going to stop now.”