Reply #17: From anotehr thread [View All]

[Armstead]

Please don't repeat mistake of 2002
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=264746&mesg_id=264746


Much of the same political calculations were being made during the debate over the Iraq War in 2002 that are being made now about how far to go on the Alito nomination.

Well, here's a simple argument from a purely opportunistic, political standpoint. It boils down to -- Remember the Iraq War debate.

From a purely opportunistic political standpoint, there's an important point to remember. If Democrats had unified and stood their ground in 2002, the Democratic Party would be in a lot better position today.

Today, with a majority of the country admitting that the Iraq War was a mistake, the Democrats could have been capitalizing on being the smart and principled opposition. Even if they could not have stopped it ultimately, the Democratic Party would still have had a selling point. "See? We stood against this terrible mistake of a war when it mattered. We were right, ultimately."

But because too many Democrats waffled and gave into the GOP/Media spin of "inevitability," the Democrats today can't do that. They are seen as just as complicit in the Iraq Mistake as Bush and the GOP. And worse, the division within the party added to the stereotype of "ineffectual wafflers."

And, back then, the "go along to get along" path of least resistance strategy didn't do any good anyway. The GOP/media still attacked the Democrats as the "party against national security" and "indecisive" and made they made gains in 2002 and 2004.

This is a similar situation. Most Democrats (moderates included) KNOW that Alito is a bad choice who will do damage to America....But the "pragmatists" are once again buying into the same Aura of Inevitability as they did with the Iraq War. The "pragmatic" strategy is not being driven by Democrats, but by the GOP and the Presstitute Media.... "Obstructionists, lost cause,catering to the far left..." the whole ball of wax.

But if Alito gets on the court, a principled fight to the end can still have advantages for the Democrats. Once the "mainstream" sees what happens when Alito cements the power of the Scalia/Thomas/Roberts brand of ultra right-wing justice, the public will regret it. There will be a similar belated recognition of the awful results of Bush/GOP policies.

The question now that Democrats must ask -- from a purely strategic, pragmatic standpoint -- is do they want to be perceived at that point as having been strong and principled on Alito when it mattered? Or do we want to be stuck in the same no-win position we currently are on Iraq?