From the WSJ Opinion Archives
FROM THE HEARTLAND
Pity Party
The war debate makes the Democrats look pathetic.
Poor Tom Daschle. The Senate majority leader was working hard to pre-empt President Bush's pre-emptive foreign policy by asserting that discussion of war should be put off until after the election. Now he is losing control of the political agenda.
First came Al Gore to declare that a discussion of war is just what's needed now--and, moreover, that war against Saddam Hussein is a bad idea, never mind his own much-ballyhooed vote in favor of the first Gulf War. Then came Teddy Kennedy's Vietnam syndrome relapse. And now Reps. David Bonior (D., Mich.) and Jim McDermott (D., Wash.) have fetched up in Hanoi--excuse me, Baghdad--to accuse the president of lying about the Iraqi threat and calling on the administration to "let the U.N. inspectors do their job" and "take the Iraqis on their face value."
Oh, and then there was Barbra Streisand, right on cue, stamping her foot in frustration about those evildoing Republicans. "While there are serious problems with Iraq and Saddam Hussein," wrote her spokeswoman last week, "Barbra feels that we can't let this issue become a distraction from the country's domestic problems."
Earth to Streisand: The possibility of war already is a "distraction" from domestic problems. And those on the left who were disingenuously demanding that the Bush administration make a case for action against Saddam have only themselves to blame.
There is a respectable case for the notion that, having failed to take out Saddam when we had the chance in 1991, the U.S. should be leery about trying to do so now. But for the moment there can be little question that the prospect of war is giving Republican candidates across the country a golden opportunity to cut down on the maneuvering room of their opponents. Al Gore's failure to make a better case, however, may be helping the president shore up his Republican base.
A fairly typical example is Candace Miller, Michigan's term-limited secretary of state, who is running for Rep. Bonior's redistricted House seat in blue-collar Macomb County. Ms. Miller, who had previously gone out of her way to emphasize her "moderate" credentials, launched her TV campaign last week with an ad featuring Donald "Digger" O'Dell, a local Vietnam War hero and ex-prisoner of war who extols Ms. Miller's role in "leading the fight to save Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County." Selfridge was a staging point for significant deployments in Kosovo, Bosnia and the first Gulf War. The message is clear: Selfridge would also have an important role to play in a new Gulf War.
Ms. Miller also is running radio ads in the northern part of her district talking about the need for a stronger national defense. They don't explicitly mention Iraq, but again the message seems clear: With war imminent, Candace Miller can be trusted to side with America's military.
Meanwhile, Ms. Miller's opponent, Macomb County district attorney Carl Marlinga, has been running radio ads that feature actor Robert Redford talking about the need to protect the environment. Not only do the ads seem dated, but the Miller camp was quick to point out the implications for an area heavily dependent on auto manufacturing: "As a part of Redford's advocacy on the environment," said a Miller press release, "he has recently fought to increase automobile CAFE [corporate average fuel economy] standards to 36 miles per gallon. This effort failed, but if it had been enacted it would have cost countless Michigan UAW jobs. Redford has also been a financial supporter of anti-gun initiatives along with other liberal causes and candidates."
Many Democrats themselves are rushing to make clear to voters that they aren't dewy-eyed doves. That's true even in local elections. As a regular reader of the Bozeman (Mont.) Chronicle, where my wife and I have a vacation home, I was startled to see a campaign ad for a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives, lawyer Larry Jent, featuring a picture of himself dressed in his Army Special Forces uniform and quoting from a 27-year-old efficiency report signed by his commanding officer at the time, none other than Lt. Col. Norman Schwarzkopf.
Mr. Jent used the same photo in his first run for state office as a means of introducing himself to voters. He says that "it wouldn't hurt" to use it again this year.
Many Democrats obviously believe their best bet at this point is to give the president the authorization to use force that he seeks, minus some of its more sweeping language (which the administration probably inserted for Congress to delete, and claim it won a concession from the administration). This might get the issue off the table in time to launch an offensive on domestic policy before the election. But, to paraphrase the old saw about Democrats, trying to out-Republican the Republicans on the issue may only reinforce voter inclination to vote for the real article.
With yesterday's announcement that Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli is withdrawing from the New Jersey race amid an ethics scandal, GOP hopes of bucking the usual midterm tide are rising rapidly.
But Republicans should resist the temptation to grow giddy at the prospect of success. The president is still having trouble persuading the United Nations to go along with an Iraq campaign, and a balky U.N. could make voters nervous--or even force Mr. Bush to settle for a protracted arms-control gambit. But for now Mr. Bush and the Republicans have Big Mo on their side in much of the country. And Democrats are scrambling to find a way to get the debate back on subjects of their liking.
Mr. Bray is a staff columnist at the Detroit News. His OpinionJournal.com column appears Tuesdays.
