KERRY, THE FACE IN THE MIRROR
Why are the Democrats voting for phony, joyless, rich-boy Kerry? I was struggling to understand it, when a horrible idea began taking shape in my head: they want to win, they have seen Bush's political successes, and nominating Kerry has an element of taking (what they perceive as) Bush's strategy and copying it. It's as if they said to themselves, "Bush is a vain, cocky braggart, a spoiled son of privilege, vague and inconsistent and phony, unscrupulous and power-hungry and opportunist, who rides on the reputation of the military for an alpha-male type appeal, a bitter man who nurses and avenges old wounds. And Americans seem to like him. So, who in our party best fits that description?" John Kerry!

How else to interpret Kerry's cryptic campaign slogan-- "The Real Deal," which refers to him? You wanted a strongman, a gutsy, tough-guy commander-in-chief, a macho president, who's in charge of the strongest military on earth and makes sure everybody knows it? Well, Bush is just play-acting. Our guy is the Real Deal.

It reminds me a lot of the way Hitler was a response to the British Empire. Hitler saw the British Empire as a huge world power, straddling the globe, dominated by a white "master race" which ruled over and exploited many other "inferior peoples;" and he wanted one of his own. Yet that was only one aspect of the British Empire. It also, a bit patchily, someimes hypocritically or for selfish reasons, yet nevertheless genuinely, was committed to liberty and fair play, and wanted to provide over what was then called civilization, and now would be called development. And yet the expediencies that corrupted the British Empire in small ways were woven into the rationalizations by which Hitler seduced Germany into the horrible crimes of the Nazi empire. The British largely redeemed themselves in the sacrifices they made to stop Hitler, but they had a haunting sense that something was deeply wrong not only with Germany, but with the Western civilization of which the Nazis were among the progeny, and of which the British had been the leaders. Hitler was the British face in the mirror.

I'm not comparing Kerry to Hitler, of course, but the phenomenon in this election is eerily similar. The Democrats, in their envy, formed a nasty view of Bush and then seem to be picking a candidate who matches that caricature. Tonight Bush said that we have the terrorists on the run. Kerry said that they had Bush on the run. Bush called for a regime change against Saddam; Kerry called for regime change in the US. Bush can be a bit arrogant, even vain, a bit vague and incoherent, a bit opportunist. The spectacle of Kerry should provoke a bit of introspection in Republicans. The political arena in which the rise of John Kerry was possible is one which Republicans played a role in shaping.