Political Forecast

Why I’m spending my vacation reading David Yepsen’s past columns in the Des Moines Register is beyond me, but I really felt I needed to point out how much of a hack he is in his column from last Sunday, the anniversary of my birth:

“The two political parties are each suffering from intellectual bankruptcy right now. Neither is offering voters anything very compelling.

Want proof? In Washington, they’re having a marvelous argument over history. Specifically, Iraq war history. Democrats accuse the Bush administration of misleading the country and lying about the threat the nation faced from Iraq. Polls show a lot of Americans agree. So, Republicans are countering that Democrats had the same intelligence and a lot of them voted for the war, too.

Yada. Yada. Yada. The dialog is as interesting as the holiday Muzak at a shopping mall. Does anybody have a workable plan to get us out?”

And that’s just how he starts off the column. On Iraq, the debate about the history of intelligence is quite important. In fact, beyond the corruption in the Republican Party in Congress and in the executive via Jack Abramoff, the lies in the lead-up to the Iraq war are perhaps the most deserving issues of investigation and inquiries of the last 20 years. The debate isn’t necessarily something to offer voters, but it is goddamn important. Someone who claims to be some kind of Iowa political expert should know something that rudimentary. Unless you really are an idiot. Oh, and by the way, how is the minority party in both houses of Congress supposed to offer a compelling plan for withdrawal that is allowed on the floor to be debated and voted on untouched by the Washington Republican leadership?

Now, let’s move to this “no ideas” meme that has spread across the political punditry. The whole idea that Democrats have nothing new to offer is terribly unfounded. Yepsen makes sure to qualify his claim by arguing that the party hasn’t offered any new ideas. I think that might be true, to some extent, because parties are required to be vague to an extent to make sure not to alienate particular blocs of voters. But why does the party have to offer or endorse a particular policy proposal or idea?

Why can’t we rely on candidates, on organizations, and on other institutions to offer up ideas as well? If you look at those organizations, Democrats have got a multitude of ideas. Just visit the Center for American Progress and you can spend your entire day looking through progressive alternatives.

Now, look at the Republican party. Nothing they’ve offered under Bush the last five years has been a new idea. More tax cuts, more privatization, and more corporate selling-out. It is the same agenda they’ve offered for 20 years. Give me one new, national Republican idea that they’ve offered. And prove to me how its new. Because I really don’t believe the Republican party has offered a new idea in a long time.

As for the hack David Yepsen, he deals with the no ideas meme the same way most hacks do. He talks for two paragraphs about what Democrats should do (from someone else’s writing). Then he spends five paragraphs talking about Republican ideas from The Weekly Standard and applying them to Iowa and talking about how they might work. Things like cutting taxes and imposing a national sales tax (pretty contradictory if you ask me), as well as increasing competition in health care and mandating that everyone in America purchase some kind of health care to cover catastrophic events. I’m sure the poor in America can afford catastrophic health insurance.

David Yepsen’s a hack and the Republican Party hasn’t offered any new ideas. Anyone wanna argue? David–I’m lookin’ at you.

PS: I’m sorry for stealing your post title, Drew.