Richard Pryor once did an impression of a cheetah that mockinglygives a gazelle a head start running across the African plain tocreate, in the gazelle's mind, the illusion of escape. The gazellemay run as fast as it could, but the race would quickly be overwhenever the cheetah decided to start running.
Such is the relationship between President Bush and theDemocratic nominees.
If you haven't figured it out yet, this is not the Democrats'year to retake the White House. In fact, the next Democraticpresidential nominee with a shot at the prize will not be namedDean or Kerry or Clark but Clinton, as in Sen. Hillary Clinton ofNew York.
I know, I know -- she's not running this time, which isprecisely why those who manage the ropes and pulleys in theDemocratic Kabuki theatre know that the real show doesn't startuntil Hillary hits the stage in 2008.
One question should resolve the issue. Where is Bill Clinton?Most would agree he's the leader of the Democratic Party,Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffenotwithstanding. The man any Democratic Party nominee needs on hisor her side to win the presidency is strangely incognito thesedays.
Simple logic dictates that if the 2004 Democratic candidatewins, a re-election campaign will be assured in 2008. There's justone problem. Sen. Clinton already has dibs on 2008. I can't imagineBill Clinton, himself a political cheetah, is very interested inthe spoiler role this time around. Democrats should expect littlemore than armchair support from the former president. Of course,he'll say he's just staying out of it because the campaign isstrong enough to win without him.
If I've correctly predicted the futility of this year'sDemocratic presidential campaign, there still exists a good reasonto run against Bush -- and run hard. The answer is derived from oneof President Bush's own quotes -- "If you're not with us, you'reagainst us." The Democratic charge this year is to perform as ifthe exact opposite were true.
"If you're not against us, you're with us."
If only to limit the effectiveness of this president, theDemocratic Party must keep up the pressure on Bush -- not becausehe's doing a bad job, as they may readily claim, not because thewar in Iraq was a bad idea, not because the economy is doomed underfour more years of Republican administration.
They must do it because without opposing him, they let him win.Not the big battles like re-election -- but the small ones. Theunspoken rule is: Never give the other guy too much credit byremaining silent. Not crafting an opposing point of view is akin tosupport in big party politics, no matter how weak that view maybe.
So the battle plan is laid out. Oppose Bush, at all cost. If theeconomy improves, blame him for not creating enough real jobs. Ifthe war is going well, claim that a more peaceful pre-war planwould have produced a similar result with fewer casualties. If theBush Administration cures cancer, accuse them of turning theirbacks on heart disease.
But never, never, never, no matter how due the credit is, giveBush credit for doing something good. Because you could have alwaysdone it better.
So Mr. President, the next four years are yours to take -- notbecause you'll beat the Democratic Party's first string, notbecause you've been a modern day Harry S. Truman, but because theDemocratic powers-that-be are willing to forfeit '04 for a surething in '08.
