To the Editor:
Once upon a time there were a lot of union guys in the Democrat party.
They even set the tone.
They knew that elections were not philosophy seminars at Dartmouth, but brawls in which a limited number of slogans were shouted to rally the faithful.
If such a politician were asked how he would react if his wife were raped, he'd shout "I'd kill the bastard!"
They'd not fret about how "bastards" might feel hearing this word.
And they'd not natter on about rape statistics, as the effete Dukakis did.
Or cry about insults to his wife as the effete Muskie once did.
The Republicans won the last election by finding kernels of the truth as they saw it, shooting out forceful sound bytes, i.e., talking points, and getting every Republican in the universe repeating them until they became conventional wisdom, easily recalled and repeated.
Howard Dean understands this technique and began to implement it when he said De Lay was probably going to jail. Or that Republicans all look alike and never did a day of honest, hard work.
But, how did the precious politically correct intellectuals who now hold power in the Democrat party respond?
Did they all say, "Yeah, Howard's right. De Lay's probably going to jail?"
Did they carp about the inactivity of the House Ethics Committee?
No, Ferraro, Pelosi and others are getting the "message" to Howard.
In other words the Dem. leaders are rejecting the very rhetorical strategy responsible for much of the Republican victory in the last election.
The message Pelosi and others will pass to Howard is the Kerry rhetorical legacy writ large.
Be a polite, effete loser!
Republican commentators are having a field day.
