The out-of-touch party

The Weekly Standard’s Noemie Emery joins those who see the California recall results as evidence that the Democrats are “the out-of-touch party.” Two major Democratic themes flopped badly in California. The first theme, George Bush “the miserable failure,” was promoted mostly by Arianna Huffington, who in the debate with Schwarzenegger tried to portray him as a Bush clone. Emery notes that after the debate “Arnold soared , while Huffington’s share in the polls fell from 2 percent to 0.4, at which point she dropped out and went to work for Gray Davis.” The second theme, the Republicans as chronic subverters of the will of the people (impeachment, Florida, etc.), played no better. Emery may be over-estimating the extent to which the California election was a referendum on national Democratic themes, as opposed to Davis’ competence, Arnold’s celebrity and so forth. But I think she is correct in the main: the Democrats are intent on demonizing President Bush and his party, and the public isn’t buying it.

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