Sneaking Suspicions |
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full text of the document that inspired this post appears below it.
September 13,
2004 Today the national Democratic Party sent me an email soliciting contributions. I’m not surprised at being asked, what with being a registered Democrat and all. What is a bit surprising is the fact that even at this late date in the campaign, the email never once mentions any substantive, policy-based reason to vote for the Kerry/Edwards ticket. Instead, the entire message is an extended attack on President Bush and Vice-President Cheney (whom they attempt to diminish by referring to them as George and Dick, without mentioning their official titles). It’s a mystery to me why the DNC chose to engage in this kind of choir-preaching. If they wanted to recruit Democrats to rely on this and similar emails to push for Senator Kerry’s election, why not give them some helpful material? From my experience, folks don’t mind being told why the other guy doesn’t deserve it, but what they really want to hear is why your guy merits their vote. Trashing alone simply won’t do. Here are some of the email passages, with a few comments inserted in the usual format I follow here:
Well. Surely the media’s slander-by-forgery emphasis on the President’s National Guard years isn’t coming from Republicans feeding them the false documents. These attacks give every appearance of being an attempt to ignore the current reality--deciding what the next steps should be in the struggle against Islamofascism.
I’d give this approach more credence if I saw more evidence that John Kerry actually took a position during his Senate years and kept to it. That didn’t happen, apparently. And as for Senator Kerry's biography, emphasizing four months’ experience in your twenties is all well and good, when you’re still in your twenties. It’s a bit much when you’ve had 30 years after that time to build up a record you could stress during your campaign for President. When you don’t stress what you’ve done lately, I’m inclined to think you’re the one hoping we’ll forget about a "miserable record".
I assume that first clause relates to the WMD issue. Nonetheless, anyone who believed that the Administration gave WMD as the reason to go to war, at a level of policy-making below the defense against Islamofascism, is at best misguided or at worst guilty of willful denial of the facts. As for the alleged peace plan failures, I’d be happy to hear the details, after I concluded that we’re at peace. I make no such assumptions at this point in the war. I also think that the Democrats’ money-better-spent-on-domestic-priorities argument insults our intelligence. Fighting terrorism doesn’t come cheap. It’s not as if there really was a peace dividend after the Cold War—the Islamofascists’ attack on America simply caused us to change the manner in which our defense dollars needed to be spent.
I fully expect both parties to suggest that the other side’s victory would make us less safe. It’s a fair argument in a political campaign, for which this Democratic solicitation makes no response other than sputtering, if not “macho posturing”. Remember Kennedy’s bogus missile-gap ploy in the 1960 campaign? There’s more to the email, but the choir-preaching noted above is typical of the remaining passages. If anyone would like to see the entire solicitation, I will gladly send it along [See below]. And no, I won’t be sending any checks to the Democratic Party any time soon. Here's the full text:
Dear FREDERICK SCHRANCK,
We are at one of the defining moments of this campaign -- one of those points we will look back on when we win. We will remember that George Bush and Dick Cheney tried to completely ignore reality -- and we will remember that we stood side by side and refused to let them get away with it. George Bush and Dick Cheney wake up every morning with their fingers crossed, hoping the American people will ignore their miserable record, forget their trail of failures, and fear the future. But with your help, we are going to make sure that the American people see through their bluster and macho posturing, and see what a mess they have made. Please make a contribution to the Democratic Party today: https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html George Bush and Dick Cheney have lost millions of jobs, made our health care crisis worse, and turned record budget surpluses into record deficits. They misled America into war, failed to plan for the peace, and are running up a $200 billion bill at the expense of America's middle class taxpayers. And now they are acting like they are doing us a favor by standing for re-election. They even have the gall to tell the American people how risky it would be if we turned them out of office. The biggest risk to America's future is four more years of Bush-Cheney's incompetence, misinformation, and ill intent. Don't let Bush, Cheney and the Republican Party run away from their record. Send a "Don't yield an inch" contribution to support all our Democratic candidates right now: https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html There are seven critical weeks left in this campaign. There will be moments when everything seems to be going our way -- and times when we will wish events were moving in a different direction. But we will never lose faith. We will never stop working for victory. And we will never yield an inch to our opponents. Remember this: they are the ones who are hoping and praying that reality does not catch up with them by Election Day. We are the ones who are going to make sure that it does. The rest of this campaign will be tough. But, we will be tougher. They will throw everything they have at us. But we will give as good as we get. And when the dust settles on Election Day, we are going to pull through to victory. Thank you for all you have done to help all Democratic candidates. And, most of all, thank you for standing with us through thick and thin. Together, we will win. Thank you,
https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html
Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National
Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal
income tax purposes. |
Contact Information: Fritz Schranck fschranck-at-
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Official small print disclaimer: This is, after all, a personal web site. Any opinions or comments I express here are my own, and don't necessarily reflect the official position of my work as a government attorney or any of my clients. That fact may become obvious later on, but it needs to be said here anyway. © Frederick H. Schranck 2002-2004 |