DADvocate

Instapundit pointed out this article in the "New York Times." It's entitled "Some Democrats Are Sensing Missed Opportunities." Duh. For some Democrats to finally be sensing missed opportunities shows just how out of touch they are.

In this post last October, I said,

I would LOVE for the Democratic Party to become stronger and less radical with a greater focus on the plight of everyday people and their everyday life. BUT to become stronger, the Democrats are going to have to learn how to LEAD.

Leading (from Merriam-Webster) 1 a : to guide on a way especially by going in advance b : to direct on a course or in a direction

Finally a glimmer of awakening seems to be coming to the Democrats.

Asked to describe the health of the Democratic Party, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said: "A lot worse than it should be. This has not been a very good two months."

"We seem to be losing our voice when it comes to the basic things people worry about," Mr. Dodd said.

That's right the "basic things people worry about." Guess what? The issues that are big to the Democrats, gay marriage, abortion, Bush bashing, are not the everyday things people worry about. Of course, many Democrats and other liberals that don't support these things are fascists and/or Nazis. You don't convert people by calling them fascists and Nazis. To get more votes you have to convert people to your side.

"I think that two-thirds of the American people think the country is going in the wrong direction," " said Senator Barack Obama, the first-term Illinois Democrat who is widely viewed as one of the party's promising stars. "They're not sure yet whether Democrats can move it in the right direction."

Two-thirds of the American people think the country is going in the wrong direction and the Democrats still have trouble mustering public support. Getting a clue means more than going to Toys R Us and buying a board game. The governor of Tennessee has awakened also.

"We're selling our party short; you've got to stand for a lot more than just blasting the other side," said Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee. "The country is wide open to hear some alternatives, but I don't think it's wide open to all these criticisms. I am sitting here and getting all my e-mail about the things we are supposed to say about the president's speech, but it's extremely light on ideas. It's like, 'We're for jobs and we're for America.' "

The Democrats need to read this:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt

Learn to be a doer of deeds, strive but come up short again and again (sounds familiar). The truth in this quote is intrinsically understood by most people which is why the constantly critical but non-doing Democrats are hurting. Bush's presidency has given them plenty of legitimate opportunities but, so far, the Democrats have blown every one.

Missing Intelligence

To look for an example only look as far as the funeral ceremony of Coretta Scott King. Instead of giving the praise and admiration that Mrs. King deserves, some Democrats chose to play politics.

Joseph Lowery:

"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," he said in a boisterous, rhyming oration. "But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here -- millions without health insurance, poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor."

Lowery's remarks and other barbs were met with bursts of applause. President Bush stood and embraced Lowery with a smile at the end of his comments.

Who's the only person showing class in this scene? If you don't answer "Bush" then you need to read a few Miss Manners books.

Carter said the support of King and other civil rights figures in 1976 "legitimized a Southern governor as an acceptable candidate for president."

"The efforts of Martin and Coretta have changed America," he said, noting "they were not appreciated even at the highest level of government."

"It was difficult for them personally, with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretapping," he said.

References to wiretapping. Jimmy conveniently the people wiretapping Martin L. King, Jr. were Democrats John and Robert Kennedy whose brother Teddy was present at the funeral. (Teddy only worries about taking long drives off short piers.)

There were also some tasteless conservative protesters.

Funeral-goers were met outside the church by a protest by members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The Topeka, Kansas-based congregation is known for its anti-gay stands and frequently pickets the funerals of people supportive of gay rights, as Mrs. King was.

I'm saddened that Mrs. King's husband was murdered in my home state in the city of my birth. Her death signaled the end of a generation of the King family. It also highlighted the great contribution the Martin and Coretta made to America. Too bad some Democrats had to use it to play cheap shot politics.

Do you still wonder why you can't garner any more support?