Tom Piatak

August 26, 2008

The challenge of the Democrats at this convention is the same challenge they have faced at every convention I can remember:  to convince America that the Democratic Party at its national level consists of ordinary Americans.  And, more often than not, the Democrats have failed this challenge, because the national Democratic Party has, since 1972, been the party of the counterculture.  All the gestures of patriotism and piety at a Democratic convention seem forced and phony because, for the most part, they are.  Michael Dukakis riding in a tank, John Kerry “reporting for duty” and gushing about his days as an altar boy, Michelle Obama discovering a “love” for America that she did not mention when she was telling us that she had not felt pride in America until her husband started winning primaries, Nancy Pelosi proclaming herself an “ardent” Catholic for unlimited abortion on demand—who can take these people seriously?  The Republicans are little better, and in some areas may actually be worse, but the Democrats do excel at one thing:  providing lots of ammunition to Republicans.