The Democrat’s Message.

With the 2004 presidential election, and more importantly, the 2004 presidential campaign fast fading from memory – the Democrats are left wondering why their message wasn’t heard. At least this is what my more left leaning friends tell me. Others, knowing the media attention and campaign budgets, are sure the message was heard, but ponder “what wasn’t it understood?”  I just don’t think they’re asking the right questions. I too believe the Democrats message was heard, I also believe it was understood, and therein lays the problem.  Despite all the posters, commercials, celebrity endorsements, and help from the main stream media – the people – the real people, the real heartland, chose to turn from left and into the right.

There’s been the usual post mortem steeped in “ifonlies”. If only Mr. Kerry didn’t make it about Viet Nam, if only some one hadn’t slipped Dan Rather documents printed on funny paper, if only Americans were smart enough to grasp what the Democrats are all about.  Here’s the rub boys and girls – Americans are exactly smart enough. 

I was once looking at an illustration by Picasso, my companion asked for my opinion, so I replied “I don’t like it”.  This brought on 11 solid minutes of lecture about modernism, the sum of which was, and I paraphrase, “You just don’t understand it”. “Is it okay if I understand it, but still don’t like it?” here was no reply, but I saw by my friend’s pained look – the answer was “no”.

You see, most people who harbor an opinion think they are right, and as such, if you disagree, you are mistaken.  I’m not writing just of the true believer – kool aide crowd. I refer to rational, intelligent human beings who believe something to be true, and have arrived at this belief though a reasonable thought process, taking in some available facts and figures.  So to stumble across someone who’s belief system is 120 to 180 degrees opposed is a shock to the system.  “I’ve looked at the facts, I’ve done the math – if you disagree, you must be wrong”.

Well there’s a problem with facts – as Barry Farber (long time radio personality and one time candidate to NYC mayor) has said “There are now enough facts at our disposal, with which we can prove anything”.  You see the problem with facts is, the same set of facts can cause two people to reach different conclusions. This is true, especially when completely unrelated facts are used to support a position.  For example- strawberries turn from green to red as they ripen, most apples turn from green to red as they ripe therefore – when a maple leaf turns from green to red in the autumn - it has ripened.

The Democrat’s platform was heard, it was understood, but most Americans don’t believe maple leaves ripen. The majority of Americans think moral values still mean something, the majority of Americans think that faith and principles and family values still help define who we are as a people. And, while we may be star struck, we don’t think the entertainment industry speaks for us.

Entertainers are, or should be, just that – entertainers.

The majority of American’s understand all this, and more.  So the left has an opportunity here – they can strive to understand what most Americans are all about, or, what is more likely, they will scratch their collective heads and wonder how they can help that majority come around to their way of thinking.  They will have forgotten the words of Thomas Jefferson…"It is my principle that the will of the majority should prevail" "I readily suppose my opinion wrong, when opposed by the majority"