Why are the Democrats such pussies?

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee made an announcement on April 21 that is in every way more offensive and shocking than any idiocy that tumbled out of Santorum’s mouth. For the entire history of the two-party system in this country, the parties have had a gentlemen’s agreement that the conventions will take place before Labor Day, with the real, head-to-head campaigning to commence thereafter. But as we know very well, we are no longer dealing with gentlemen. So now the Republicans announce that they are going to meet in New York City about three miles from Ground Zero as near to the anniversary of the tragedy as possible. And they in essence acknowledge, discreetly but quite openly, that the purpose is to squeeze as much political gain out of the attacks, and the national-security issue, as they can.
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And what have the Democrats had to say about this? senate National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe issued one statement, and to be fair, it was toughly worded. (Although he did issue two official statements on the Santorum flap.) But aside from that, I’ve seen nada. So here we have it: The one inviolable political rule that supposedly emerged from 9-11 was that no one, and no party, was to seek partisan advantage from the tragedy. Yet the Republicans are doing exactly that, and the Democrats scamper like mice. They hand Bush the issue on a golden platter and say practically nothing.

As far as I’m concerned, the 2004 election is the Democrats to lose. I can’t think of a single issue that can’t be spun to show Bush as a big loser : despite his tax cuts, the economy is still in the toilet, we still don’t know the truth behind 9/11 because he’s been holding back an investigation, The Enron, Global Crossing, Worldcomm scandals were all swept under the rug, they still haven’t found Osama, Saddam, or any WMD’s, a record surplus has turned into a record deficit, Bush ran as a moderate, but he rules as a hard-right winger, and the whole world hates us.

That said, I think it’s too early to be making big attacks on Bush’s record. They should be pushing back as much as possible on every front (the Estrada and Owen nominations are a good start). The day after the Republican convention, they should really hit the ground running. In the meantime, I think the Democrats could gain a lot by having some sort of organized “talking points”. I get an email every week from the GOP Team Leader program that tells me exactly what’s on their minds. The closest thing to that liberals have is moveon.org.