Things are really swinging our way it seems, although we must never forget that it isn't even 2006 yet and that we Democrats tend to get ahead of ourselves.
The Republicans are mired in the Culture of Corruption.
Duke Cunningham, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Rove, Scanlon, Abramoff, Ney, Doolittle, and Burns
Republicans must lay down in the bed they made, but will it matter? I decided to find out by asking my Dad, a life-long Republican who just voted for his first Democrat, John Kerry.
First, I should come clean about why my Dad thought George Bush needed kicked out of office. Because he didn't drill in ANWAR. That's right. He promised he would open it up and he didn't. I sat down with Dad and went through the web sites that showed how little oil (comparatively) was in ANWAR and he was somewhat convinced. My Dad is stubborn, did I mention that? Now, there were other reasons, but not trusting Bush's word was the first thing that came to my father's lips. Trust.
So, I came right out and asked him what it would take for him to vote for the Democrats and against the Republicans. His response?
"I'm not going to vote for any of 'em, they're all a bunch of God Damn crooks."
I then proceeded to remind my Dad of all the bad things that had come out of the Republican Culture of Corruption. I reminded him of Iraq, he's a Vietnam Vet and not a big fan of the war. His response.
"And if the Democrats were in power, they'd do the same damn thing."
So, here is my open ended question to you. How do we answer that? Not just my Dad, but the millions of middle-of-the-road voters who are sick of the corruption, but don't really believe the Democrats will do anything differently.
Here's an even more pointed question, will we? Sure, maybe for the first two years, until we get a Democratic President. But, what about after that? Will our Democratic Representatives end up being just as crooked? Why not?
Will we propose some sweeping legislation to finally get corporate money out of politics? Do we even have such a bill? What small percentage of Democrats are co-authors?