1. And then there is Kos. The netroots are having their yearly convention. Their movement loathes the centrist camouflage of the DLC; they want the Democrats to proudly campaign for their liberalism instead of running in terror from the word. (Even Senator Kennedy has been afraid to admit he is liberal on Sunday morning talk shows.)
You have to admire their honesty. And it might work, as no Presidential candidate has campaigned as a liberal since George McGovern in 1972. For 35 years we've had a lot proud conservatives and a lot of Democrats who would rather "focus on the issues instead of getting caught up in labels." Maybe a proud liberal is exactly the fresh air voters are looking for.
Or maybe the L-word is still the kiss of death. What would happen to a candidate who openly campaigned for bigger government, more taxes and weaker defense? The electoral map is not friendly to the Democrats; they must run a perfect campaign to beat that sea of red.
3. This liberal is (in one respect) right: it would be much better for the left if the Americans had lost the Revolutionary War.
4. Are things getting better in Iraq? Are Muslims getting disgusted with terrorism?
5. Masters of Science Fiction is a new anthology show on ABC that starts tomorrow, August 4, at 10/9c. It might be interesting or it might be godawful. The four shows are based on stories by Robert A. Heinlein, Harlan Ellison, Howard Fast and John Kessel. The narrator is Stephen Hawking.
6. The Bourne Ultimatum gets positive reviews.
4 comments:
Check out this on the electoral map. I don't think it is as red-dominated as you think.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/
John Kim
The purple map, which shows how big the margin of victory is, makes it even less clear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_America
My point is that the Democrat candidate has less margin for error. I believe he must get either Ohio or Florida to win. The question that remains is: can a Democrat campaign as an outright liberal and win the Presidency?
"My point is that the Democrat candidate has less margin for error."
I see your point now. If the country is by and large "purple" then it is mixed philosophically. A liberal who campaigns as a socialist will probably still alienate all the "purple" regions who want neither socialism nor capitalism but something in between. If a Democrat runs on a pro-socialist platform and wins, we may be screwed.
John Kim
I'm going to pinch that "it would be much better for the left if the Americans had lost the Revolutionary War" story. Great find.
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