Faded Heroes

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It’s no surprise that Democrats, especially Liberals among them, have been exceptionally unhappy with President George W. Bush. Besides the obvious self-pity that they exude at every opportunity, and the ill-chosen flight from maturity in their choice of descriptions, there seems a genuine note of desperation. And that got me thinking.

When 2009 rolls in, two of the last three Republican Presidents will have been 2-termers, and very successful in the more important parts of their job. In between them is a Republican who won a solid majority in his election, and generally did an above-average job in the Oval Office. Even the most disgraced Republican President in memory had achievements in his work which commiserate his historical position.

Compare with them the Democrats; the last Democrat to serve as President was impeached, and later admitted to the essential facts in the charges against him. The last Democrat before him to win election, was a one-term Democrat who managed to create two simultaneous conditions which economists previously thought impossible; Consumer Price Index showing Inflation above ten percent, at the same time as wager-earner Unemployment above ten percent. The last Democrat before him to hold office, chose not to run for re-election because his own party said they wouldn’t support him. Not a happy string of terms and results.

Also, there is recent history. Nine of the last fourteen Presidential elections have gone to the Republicans, and five of the last seven. Census reports and public opinion polls show a steady drift from a Democratic preference among party identification to a an even balance. And if trends continue among minority shifts, the exurban control by conservatives and the political death of the liberal bastions at union halls and college campuses, the Republicans may expect to see an effective permanent majority.

When someone mentions the “Bush Doctrine”, people know what he means. Same for Reagan. But no one can explain what, if anything, was addressed by the “Clinton Doctrine”, or the “Carter Doctrine”. No Democrat since Kennedy has been an effective speaker on his foreign policy, or defined a realistic economic program. And no Democrat since FDR has been able to show the promised results. Republicans can point to modern history and current events, once the MSM spin has been corrected. Democrats cannot, even with spin in their favor, show anything for their promises.

Democrats need a hero, because all the ones they could point to on their side have faded into obscurity. And it sure looks like the only heroes on the horizon today, are on the Right side of the issues.