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Jewish World Review June 27, 2003 / 27 Sivan, 5763
James Lileks
On feet in Democratic mouths
Reacting to the possibility that the Supreme Court might overturn affirmative action, the presidential candidate said, "When I'm president, we'll do executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day."
Winch your jaw off your sternum and read that again. Picture the glee that would sweep the Democratic National Committee if a Republican candidate said this.
They're always warning that Republicans will suspend the Constitution, repeal the Bill of Rights and strip the Declaration of Independence down to the letters G, O and D. Imagine if a GOP candidate said he'd personally overrule the Supremes if the fancy struck. It would be like getting old film of a Republican doing a blackface routine at a frat party, or doing a faux-Chinese routine with chopsticks stuck in his mouth like big buck teeth. The election would be a foregone conclusion.
Gephardt will survive, but for different reasons:
Was he now. Unfortunately, Gephardt was explicit and clear. He said he would use his powers to "overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does." Like call the election for the wrong guy? If he'd been in power in 2000, would he have invalidated the decision that gave George W. Bush the win? That's a precedent we don't need, unless we want to be ruled by grim generals in mirrored sunglasses who grant themselves 10-year terms.
Why are we bothering, anyway? It's Gephardt. He's not going to get the nomination. Howard Dean, though -- different story. And he said something interesting things recently as well.
Interviewed by Tim Russert, he brushed away charges that he wasn't up to speed on the details of American military deployments, insisting that a candidate no more needed to know that than he needed to know the name of the ambassador to Rwanda.
Hmm. Rwanda? Interesting choice. The first thing that comes to Gov. Dean's mind as a synonym for irrelevance is an African country.
What if a Republican had said that? Yes, yes, that's an old tiresome game, and it smacks of schoolyard whining: No fair! Do overs! But Republicans always have the RACE cloud hanging low over their heads. Don't think the Dems wouldn't capitalize on this one. You can see the ad:
Voice-over: "As governor, George Bush never went to Africa. As a candidate, he said he didn't need to know who was the ambassador to Rwanda. As president, he gave tax cuts to Enron while infant mortality in Rwanda continued to rise."
Picture of John Kerry, in dress uniform, with an eagle on his shoulder. "I'm John F. Kerry. In Vietnam I learned firsthand the consequence of not paying attention to the name of the ambassador for Rwanda. When I'm president, I'll know all their names and their birthdays, and which flavor of Chuckles candy is their favorite."
Given how the Dems hammered candidate Bush for his mistalkerating, it's only fair that the GOP hammer Dean et al. for theirs. But they won't. Not because they're genetically encoded for niceness -- no, they simply lack the political instincts to pound away at a faux pas, and they haven't a compliant media that will recycle the gaffe for a news cycle or two.
What does this all mean? Simple: It's the first true sign of the campaign season. The candidates are telling us what they really think, and their aides are assuring us they didn't mean that at all.
Only 16 more months of this to come! Enjoy it while you can.
06/16/03: The real story behind Hillary's book
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