I think the Democrats misunderstand the public. Look, more people vote on American Idol, I am told, than the U.S elections. People vote for the entertainment, man! Do they pick the guy with the best voice or best singing ability? I don't know since I don't watch the stuff, but I have heard some of the winners, and they cannot represent the best there is out there.
When I first moved to the U.S I became a big fan of basketball. Here finally was a game that finished within a reasonable time and was athletic (unlike cricket) and actually involved playing (unlike baseball or American football). Great game! But then, towards the last few minutes of each game (especially during play-offs) I noticed a disquieting activity: wilful fouling! The trailing team would intentionally foul opposition players and sometimes even win games, as a result! The moral outrage and utter confusion I felt: how can this be? That the rules, which are meant to make sure that the team with the greatest abilities (at playing basketball -- isn't that what it's about?) succeeds, were actually performing the opposite function -- this moral outrage, to my surprise, was not shared by any of my American friends! To my astonishment, they felt that such tactics were "part" of the game!
To those of us in the reality-based world, the pronouncements and claims of George Bush seem Orwellian! But that is our failing.
What the Democrats need to do is to stop talking about what they wish to do or will do: universal healthcare (attempts), increase minimum wage, less unilateral foreign policy, women's rights, etc. The people already know what the Dems will do and what the GOP will do. Instead, the Dems need to start talking about stuff that makes it worth the time of the people to listen to the debates. Not Hillary-esque posturing. But real from the heart stuff, like W and Clinton (in opposite ways) express. Abandon reality! I mean not small deviations and exaggerations. Just wild flat out fantasy-stuff. Not facts. But hopes. Beliefs! Attitudes! Look at the most successful (or two term) presidents: JFK, Reagan, Clinton, Bush Jr... one of them in fact was an actor, no less, and suffered an ailment that enabled abandoning reality altogether while still in office.
--ravi
-- Support something better than yourself: ;-) PeTA: http://www.peta.org/ GreenPeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/ If you have nothing better to do: http://platosbeard.org/