NYT Op/Ed: Democrats continue to display natural knack for losing elections RAW STORY

Published: Saturday April 19, 2008



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Print This Email This The Democrats, at the delight of the GOP, are once again showcasing a long established natural aptitude for losing elections, says New York Times columnist Bob Herbert today. The post-Carter days, Herbert says, have left the Democratic party so battered that they consider the Clinton presidency a "period of triumph," despite Clinton's efforts to "throw the presidency away" during his two terms, the first of which Clinton owes, Herbert opines, to Ross Perot. In the meantime, Herbert continues, Senator Obama is losing his way in his bid for the presidency, falling prey to character attacks from the Clintons and not doing enough to clarify his message beyond his speeches. With the panelists in the recent ABC debate between Sens. Clinton and Obama getting a much deserved reprimand from the public, Herbert goes on, Obama still could have held up his end better. EXCERPTS: # Voters across the country seem disgusted with this state of affairs. George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson of ABC News are being pilloried for the way they conducted Wednesdays debate. Hillary Clintons disapproval ratings have climbed into a zone that makes it legitimate to wonder whether she could defeat Senator McCain. And much of the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding Mr. Obamas candidacy has cooled. That raucous laughter you hear in the background is coming from the likes of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, President Bush and Senator McCain. They cant believe their good fortune. There was always going to be resistance in the U.S. to putting a black person or a woman of any color in the White House. To overcome that built-in resistance, three things are crucially important: new voters have to be brought into the process; the nominee must have an exciting and compelling message; and the party has to be extraordinarily unified behind its standard-bearer. # The entire column, entitled "Road Map to Defeat," can be read HERE.