Sometimes even Democrats get it right

Brian Smith
Right Angle

This space is not ordinarily associated with praise for Democrats. However, even the hardest rules have exceptions.

The Democratic credentials of Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia are unquestioned. Miller has voted for every Democratic candidate for president since 1952. He was twice elected governor of Georgia as a Democrat and was appointed to the Senate as a Democrat by a Democrat.

Zell Miller is a proud Democrat - and he has endorsed President George W. Bush for reelection in 2004.

Senator Miller called his endorsement an easy decision.

"For I believe the next five years will determine the kind of world my four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren will live in. I simply cannot entrust that crucial decision to any one of the current group of Democratic presidential candidates," said Miller.

Who knew agreeing with Democrats was such fun?

Miller claims President Bush "is the right man in the right place at the right time." Miller praises the job Bush has done on taxes and Iraq, stating the President "has some Churchill in him and he does not flinch when the going gets tough."

But Miller is as disgusted with his fellow Democrats as he is pleased with the job President Bush is doing.

"Believe me, I looked hard at the other choices. And what I saw was that the Democratic candidates who want to be president in the worst way are running for office in the worst way," said lifelong Democrat Miller.

The senator went on to remark the Democratic candidates "have managed to combine the worst features of the McGovern campaign - the president is a liar and we must have peace at any cost - with the worst feature of the Mondale campaign - watch your wallet, we're going to raise your taxes."

A Republican couldn't have said it better!

For the record, George McGovern (1972) and Walter Mondale (1984) managed to carry two states between them during their presidential runs.

Miller is expressing his frustration with a situation that is becoming abundantly clear - the Democratic Party has been hijacked by its far left wing. While this might sit well with peaceniks and college professors, even Democratic politicians are now coming out of the woodwork to decry the mess.

What this takeover means for rank-and-file Democrats is they no longer have a voice in their own party. In a book he released this month titled, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," Miller claims the Democratic Party has sold out the South.

"The biggest problem with the party leadership is that they know nothing about the modern South," writes Miller. "They still see it as a land of magnolias and mint juleps, with the pointy-headed KKK lurking in the background, waiting to burn a cross or lynch blacks and Jews."

Geez, where would Miller ever get an idea like that? How about from Howard Dean, who recently announced his desire to "be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks."

Or how about from Wesley Clark: "I think all Americans, and this is a joke, all Americans, even if they're from the South and stupid, should be represented." Funny, General. When you lose this election, perhaps ABC will still looking for a late-night replacement for Ted Koppel.

The liberal hijacking of the Democratic Party will be complete once Howard Dean is nominated, after which he will be promptly dispatched alongside his comrades McGovern and Mondale. Northeastern liberalism seems to carry with it a special kind of arrogance that is repulsing to the rest of the nation. Yet Democrats seem to be on a collision course with nominating a Northeastern Liberal.

All of this is great news for Republicans. National election after national election has shown if ordinary Americans can't stand one thing, it's arrogant Liberals telling them how to live their lives. Nominating Liberals is a losing strategy Democrats can't get enough of. Rearrange the deck chairs all you like - the Titanic is still going to sink.

Ordinary Americans don't want their taxes raised. Ordinary Americans don't want to "vote for a candidate who wants us to cut and run with our shirttails at half-mast" in Iraq (as Zell Miller so eloquently stated). And ordinary Americans will not stand for the Howard Deans of the world, looking down their noses at them. Dean "knows best" because the rest of America is a bunch of ignorant hillbillies. This strategy might play well in the People's Republic of Vermont, but good luck in "Flyover Country."

Miller made a last-ditch effort to bring his party back from the brink of insanity, but they didn't listen. Now Miller will have his revenge against his party by doing something a vast majority of other voters will do in 2004 - vote for George W. Bush for president.


Right Angle appears every Monday. Brian is a law student. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.

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