Blue Notes from a Red Zone

Democrat by Name; Republican by Everything Else

I was skimming through the news (though why I think this will help me get to sleep I don't know) when I noted that Senator Bill Nelson is planning on voting for the repeal of the estate tax, or the alternative "compromise" that would exempt estates of $3.5 million for individuals and $7 million for couples, and place a lid of 15% on the amounts beyond those limits for estates greater than those amounts.

There are a lot of crocodile tears about the "death tax" and its effect on family farms, but in point of fact no family farm has had to be sold due to estate taxes, and only 50 in the nation would be affected by this legislation. This is purely another demonstration of greed by the Bush administration and its ultra-wealthy base, providing a tax break to only .01% of the population (and a significant tax break to only those persons with over $2 million a year in income), while adding another $70 billion to our national deficit.

It's interesting that the offsetting tax hike was a $1 billion levy designed to increase taxes on teenagers' college savings accounts.

Senator Nelson is virtually unopposed this year, since Katherine Harris is more of an asset to his campaign than an opponent. He does not have to cower in fear of the Republican Party, which has very little respect and strength left in Florida. He has defended his record in the past by saying that he has to be "Republican light" in order to stay in office, but at this point in time there is no reason not to vote his principles. It would be a shame to think that his principles include transferring ever increasing amounts of wealth to the capital class, at the expense of 99% of the American people, their children and grandchildren.

Senator Nelson is typical of many Southern and Mid-western Democratic leaders (and the Democratic Leadership Council) that think the best Democratic strategy is to out-
Republican the Republican Party. I can't imagine why these people think that voters would prefer a faux-Republican over the real thing. If you must have a Republican, might as well go for the real deal. And yet, this remains the prevailing conventional wisdom among Democratic leaders, and it has led to such appalling sights as Hilary Clinton sponsoring an amendment to ban flag-burning, a completely non-existent crisis. It's pandering at its worst (well, maybe not as bad as McCain hopping in bed with Jerry Falwell, but it's pretty bad).

When the nation was almost evenly divided, this may have made sense. The idea was not to offend anyone who might vote for you, as each vote was critically important. The idea didn't work, but at least it had some logic. The polls were the Democratic Bible, and we swore an oath on every one that came out.

This year, however, these same Democrats who coached the life out of John Kerry based on focus groups and opinion polls, are acting as though they haven't seen a poll in months. They are still plotting to bring down the strength of the Republican Party, and have overlooked the detail that such strength no longer exists.

Republican incompetence, greed, disdain for anyone who has to actually work for a living, concern over loss of civil liberties, and most of all dogged insistence on more of the same in the appallingly disastrous war in Iraq has thoroughly decimated the Republican Party. The Harris poll puts support for Bush at 29% and Cheney at 10%. I don't think we need to worry about ticking these people off any more.

This year the Democrats have two concerns: ensure the accuracy and credibility of the electoral process (no more non-auditable counts) and then get out the votes by hammering on the difference between Democrats and Republicans - because a difference is what people are looking to find.

The one poll result that legitimately brings concern to the Democratic leadership is that the public is not a great deal fonder of Democratic control of Congress than Republican control, though the tilt toward Democrats is growing ever stronger. But the reason why it remains weak and soft is that the public is uncertain that the Democrats are any more likely than Republicans to get us out of Iraq, restore fairness to the tax code, reduce the deficit, place spending where it needs to be to protect the vulnerable and fragile members of society, and start restoring our civil liberties.

One small leap in that direction could be made by Senator Nelson, as he breaks ranks with his Republican friends, and votes as a Democrat against the estate tax repeal. It would send a message that Democrats are unified, and ready to defend the vast majority of hard-working Americans. Not a bad message to send, if we ever hope to truly effect change.

posted by Lenore Wilson @ 12:13 AM