Dumbest Prediction of the Year
When they’re handing out dumbest-2004-prediction awards, this one by E. J. Dionne will rank near the top:
Here’s what’s interesting for 2004: The conventional wisdom, fed by shrewd Republican operatives and commentators, is that Democrats, so out there in their antipathy for Bush, will push their party into an extremist wonderland and lose white men, security moms and anybody else who does not share their desire for revenge.The opposite is true. Democrats will not have to spend inordinate time or money in this election year “uniting their base.” Opposition to Bush has already done that.
In the 2000 election, Bush had an advantage over Al Gore because Republican rank-and-filers so hated Bill Clinton – and so wanted to win – that they gave Bush ample room to sound as moderate as John Breaux or Olympia Snowe. Bush’s 2000 Republican National Convention hid the base behind the appealing face of inclusiveness and outreach. Gore, in the meantime, had to claw back the votes of liberals and lefties who had strayed to Ralph Nader.
This time, the Democrats will have most of the election year to appeal to swing voters. Democrats are so hungry to beat Bush that they will let their nominee be pragmatic and shrewd.
Not a chance. Democrats live in a liberal cocoon and are convinced that the way to win presidential elections is by being insanely liberal. That’s why they’re backing candidates who support massive tax hikes, gay marriage, HillaryCare and Saddam Hussein.
— PoliPundit