At The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol packs a lot into a relatively short commentary. The title outlines the basic theme:
Anti-war, Anti-Israel, Anti-Joe
The New Democrats
Now I'm not going to do any quotes (ok, maybe one) but I'll touch on the highlights.
- The standard meme, the Democrats are either wimps or pro terrorist and anti Israel.
- Even though he is incompetent Bush is a fine leader. Of course he would be better if he had only dumped the really incompetent Rumsfeld a long time ago.
- The reason many Democrats oppose Lieberman is because "he's unashamedly pro-American".
- And he concludes with this:
There is a political opportunity for the Bush administration if the Democrats reject Lieberman. If he's then unable to win as an independent in November, he would make a fine secretary of defense for the remainder of the Bush years. If his independent candidacy succeeds, it will be a message to Bush that he should forge ahead toward victory in Iraq and elsewhere. Either way, the possibility exists for creating a broader and deeper governing party, with Lieberman Democrats welcomed into the Republican fold, just as Scoop Jackson Democrats became Reaganites in the 1980s. Is it too fanciful to speculate about a 2008 GOP ticket of McCain-Lieberman, or Giuliani-Lieberman, or Romney-Lieberman, or Allen-Lieberman, or Gingrich-Lieberman? Perhaps. But a reinvigorated governing and war-fighting Republican party is surely an achievable goal. And a necessary one.
