Wednesday, November 03, 2004

The Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth Begins (before the election is called)

Nicholas Kristof, in, of course, The New York Times, has penned an op-ed bewailing the vote, even before knowing the final election results.  Let’s take a look.

"In the aftermath of this civil war that our nation has just fought, one result is clear: the Democratic Party’s first priority should be to reconnect with the American heartland."

Civil war?  Rather over the top, Nick.

"I’m writing this on tenterhooks on Tuesday, without knowing the election results. But whether John Kerry’s supporters are now celebrating or seeking asylum abroad, they should be feeling wretched about the millions of farmers, factory workers and waitresses who ended up voting - utterly against their own interests - for Republican candidates."

I can tell Kristof is feeling “wretched,” but that could be the result of writing while on tenterhooks.

Further into the op-ed, Kristof relays a tale of a recent visit home.

"In the summer, I was home - too briefly - in Yamhill, Ore., a rural, working-class area where most people would benefit from Democratic policies on taxes and health care. But many of those people disdain Democrats as elitists who empathize with spotted owls rather than loggers."

I am not certain, after reading the above paragraph, whether Kristof is bemoaning the “working-class” individuals’ disdain for Democrats, or the “working-class” individuals’ independence from “Democratic policies on taxes and health care.”

But what I consider the crowning ignorance of Kristof’s op-ed is this paragraph.

"What we once thought - that people would vote in their economic self-interest - is not true, and we Democrats haven’t figured out how to deal with that."

Democrats and Kristof have no clue to what economic self-interest actually is.  They might benefit by reading Human Action.

Posted by John Venlet on 11/03 at 05:19 AM
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