Why I Have No Respect for the National Democratic Party

Well, besides the fact that I think their policy positions are mostly crap, I think they are terrible at playing the game of politics.

Don't get me wrong - I despise the way the game is played now. However, if you're going to be one of two major parties, you should probably have some remote semblance of skill.

I'm not seeing it. I haven't seen it for a long, long time. I almost wonder if there's a whole lot of otherwise bright people who avoid politics because the public face of the Democrat Part is incompetent, the Republicans are just mean-spirited.

Anyway, check out this assessment from Juan Cole and then read Josh Marshall's comments. I think Marshall is essentially correct, and that the mainstream media will enable his predictions to come true. A taste from Marshall:

Thus the central Bush policy aim of making this mess someone else's problem. The Dems play the role of the one of Pop's business associates who come in and buy W's failed company out just in time for it to crash and burn.

A taste from Juan Cole:

But in all likelihood, when the Democratic president pulls US troops out in summer of 2009, all hell is going to break loose. The consequences may include even higher petroleum prices than we have seen recently, which at some point could bring back stagflation or very high rates of inflation.

In other words, the Democratic president risks being Fordized when s/he withdraws from Iraq, by the aftermath. A one-term president associated with humiliation abroad and high inflation at home? Maybe I should say, Carterized. The Republican Party could come back strong in 2012 and then dominate politics for decades, if that happened.

Unless the Dems have some sort of super-secret plan for the future (which is about as likely as GWB admitting he was wrong about everything and turning himself over to The Hague), I have this feeling I'm not going to enjoy watching the Republicans take the Dems apart over Iraq for the next 15 years or so.