The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: The Day the Enlightenment Went Out
Excellent column. The point about the enlightenment and our country's movement to the fundamentalist illuminates the sorry state of the nation.
The biggest thing about the election is that they country is closely divided. If the Red outnumbers the Blue, then what are the folks in the Blue states suppossed to do? Civil war? Well maybe we shouldn't relive the past too much :)
To me, the important thing is that we are on the edge of winning. However Dems do need to take a couple of Red states to win the White House. The low hanging fruit on this point is to get a native son to win it. A matter of fact it is the only way that Dems have won the White House since 1964. No offense to all those good folks from NY or Mass. or California or Michigan, their is no way that they can win the Presidency unless they get the cultural gap that exisits.
This gap is not a big deal. However the inferiority complex of being from a Red state is the foundation of it. New Yorkers braggin about the Yankees or the pain they felt in on 9/11 does not unify the country. What did Clinton and Carter and Johnson do differently that Humphrey, Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry? More importantly, where were they born? The South is the key. It is based on stealing a few states than running the table. This is the big problem with Gore. He didn't win his home state. If he won Tenn, then things would have turned out differently.
Now on the state and local level, the Dems have an even bigger problem. Losing with good candidates in the Senate and House shows a serious weakness in the Party that must be addressed. It is here that the culture gap again rears its ugly head. What to do about it? To be honest, it will take a true leader to move it forward. This gets back to the Democratic problem of needing a superstar to win, but this person must have the ability shift the party to the win column. Another devastating loss will bury the party.
Excellent column. The point about the enlightenment and our country's movement to the fundamentalist illuminates the sorry state of the nation.
The biggest thing about the election is that they country is closely divided. If the Red outnumbers the Blue, then what are the folks in the Blue states suppossed to do? Civil war? Well maybe we shouldn't relive the past too much :)
To me, the important thing is that we are on the edge of winning. However Dems do need to take a couple of Red states to win the White House. The low hanging fruit on this point is to get a native son to win it. A matter of fact it is the only way that Dems have won the White House since 1964. No offense to all those good folks from NY or Mass. or California or Michigan, their is no way that they can win the Presidency unless they get the cultural gap that exisits.
This gap is not a big deal. However the inferiority complex of being from a Red state is the foundation of it. New Yorkers braggin about the Yankees or the pain they felt in on 9/11 does not unify the country. What did Clinton and Carter and Johnson do differently that Humphrey, Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry? More importantly, where were they born? The South is the key. It is based on stealing a few states than running the table. This is the big problem with Gore. He didn't win his home state. If he won Tenn, then things would have turned out differently.
Now on the state and local level, the Dems have an even bigger problem. Losing with good candidates in the Senate and House shows a serious weakness in the Party that must be addressed. It is here that the culture gap again rears its ugly head. What to do about it? To be honest, it will take a true leader to move it forward. This gets back to the Democratic problem of needing a superstar to win, but this person must have the ability shift the party to the win column. Another devastating loss will bury the party.
posted by Spud at 3:34 PM
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