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Tuesday, 07 November 2006 17:12 |
 | | Roland Martin |
CHICAGO ÇƒÓ Would someone please tell John Kerry to just go and live out his political career as the junior senator from the state of Massachusetts?
The incredible gaffe he made in trying to be glib about the education level of President George W. Bush, but insulting American troops instead, is just the latest example as to why he shouldnët even bother trying to run for president in 2008.
While New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has all but said she is gunning for the White House, Kerry has tried to stay in campaign mode after being blasted by Bush in 2004. He has maintained his massive database, e-mailing all the folks on the list and trying to encourage them to raise the Democratic banner and unseat as many Republicans across the country as possible.
He
clearly hasnët decided to go the path of Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and
Walter Mondale ÇƒÓ three previous Democratic presidential losers. No, he
wants to stay in the game, hoping that everyone will forget the dud of
a campaign he ran against a seriously weakened Bush.
His dumb mistake
couldnët come at a worse time for Democrats. With the Bush
administration getting drilled over the war in Iraq, GOP members
bickering amongst themselves as to how many seats they will lose and
Dems on Capitol Hill taking dibs on bigger congressional offices if
they win on Election Day, he decided ÇƒÓ all by his lonesome ÇƒÓ to throw a
lot of cold water onto his partyës candidates heading into the final
weekend.
Instead of
Republicans running away from Bush, now they have the chance to stick
it to the Democrats because Mr. Big Mouth couldnët tell a joke right.
In fact, Kerry
was trying to make fun of Bush, but by not actually sticking to his
script, doesnët he come across as the dumb one?
Then he
compounds the problem by playing Mr. Macho and defending himself
against Republican attacks and demands for him to apologize. Hey,
Buster, it would have been nice to see you get that worked up over the
Swift Boat Veteran bozos who torpedoed your candidacy by slamming you
at every turn (for the life of me, I still canët understand how a guy
who took shrapnel in Vietnam was turned into a wimp).
After his own
party ran from him, he finally decided to apologize. So the story is
first about his comment, then his refusal to back down, then his
refusal to apologize, then he issues a formal apology and finally, he
has to withdraw from the campaign trail on the final weekend because he
is too toxic.
Way to go, pal, you really scored a hit this time!
Then again, why
are we surprised? Didnët we all expect the Democrats to shoot
themselves in the foot? Surely we didnët think the party that has no
real position on Iraq is unwilling to offer America its own blueprint
for leadership and couldnët define a moral issue if they tripped over
it, would somehow foul up their chances at taking back not just one,
but both chambers of Congress.
Let me go on
record right now: If the Democratic Party is able to wrestle control
away from the Republicans, it wonët be because its candidates are truly
superior or because their policies are so sound ÇƒÓ it will be because
the guys and gals across the aisle couldnët shoot straight and got
caught up in their own hype and failed to keep the checks and balances
in place for an increasingly arrogant White House.
But hey, at
least weëre assured of one thing no matter what happens Tuesday: John
Kerry has guaranteed he wonët ever get the chance to stay at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue for an extended period of time.
ï
Roland S. Martin, editor of The Chicago Defender newspaper, is author of "Speak, Brother! A Black Manës View of America."
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