11/06/2004 04:40:02 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

I have never seen the Left as angry as they currently are - from Daily Kos's advocation of lying, to Eric Alterman's lunatic ravings, to the footsoldiers of hate and obstuteness who populate the Democratic Underground, and from the fast grasp on fantasy most fervently shown by Terry McAulliffe upon learning of Kerry's defeat ("This is the best election
night in history."), the Left is in the midst of an implosion.

The more skilled wordsmiths on the other side will certainly attempt to spend it as "soul searching", or something equally amorphus, but the truth is, on both a national and state level, the Democratic platform was rejected. True, the rejection wasn't Reagan / Mondale style rejection, but that was in a different world than the one we live in now. The world of 1984 has more similarities to 1950 geopolitically than it does 2004. In the current era, post-Cold War, no presidential candidate has enjoyed an absolute majority from which to govern. Here's something else to consider - John Kerry did not run on a different basket of ideas, sometimes overlapping with Bush's stances on the issue of the day - he made it a point to run as the anti-Bush. Whatever George W. Bush was for, in an almost knee-jerk fashion, John Kerry was against. In other words, the people had a clear choice between two stark, very different men with nearly opposite ideas on the functions, purposes, and limits of government and the proper response to the real challenges we face.

Serious people chose one of the two main candidates. Ralph Nader, the libertarians, etc., are great issue candidates to have around, but serious people in serious times know they have to make a decision between meaningful, not fanciful, choices. Most Americans are serious, dampening the impact that Nader was to have in 2004 over 2000.

If the Democrats are honest with themselves, they will recalibrate their positions, particularly on the War if they are to be palpable to the vast middle in the nation. If they are delusional, America will fast become a one party state. The Whigs, I suppose, could use the company.

|||109978188210809510|||The Left