UPDATED: A Democratic Death Wish?
The meme of the week appears to be Democratic self-destruction. It’s Burris this, Murtha that – even the Stanford Financial Group seems to be focusing our attention on the rise of a New Culture of Corruption. But whether all this will amount to a Democratic fall from power in 2010 is not certain. However, the risk of a Democrat implosion is real and the Dems know it.
But let’s give the situation its proper perspective. If any self-destruction results, it will be more like the death of Gollum than that of The Exorcist’s Father Karras: it’s their own drive for power that has put Democrats at risk. Allegations of corruption have been hounding Democrats for months now. And yet, Pelosi and Reid have done nothing to even simulate a concern over Congressional ethics. On the contrary, they have largely turned a blind eye to all this after themselves rising to power on their justifiable clamor against a Republican culture of corruption.
Then the Inaugural comes and the Democrats triumphantly sport one of their own as President for the first time in eight years. Ironically – as I pointed some weeks ago – this is a President whose administration’s stumbles have only helped to highlight the Democrats’ shortcomings.
When you add into the mix the potential cost of whatever unpleasantness lurks in the unpopular Stimulus bill and the Republicans’ sudden return to their principles, you know the Democrats’ worries have only begun. But that’s what happens when you forget that there are no permanent victories in politics.
UPDATE: As if Obama hadn’t done enough already to make Democrats more vulnerable, you can bet that if there’s a Chicago Tea Party, it will be held at the ballot box.
