Democrats and fighting back

I've seen several comments from the "netroots" lately about how the Democrats need to stop being so fearful of Republican claims, stereotypes and issue-framing and instead go after them. One variety of this was the pleasant surprise of the number of blog posts and press opinion pieces around the 9/11 fifth anniversary saying that it's time to stop letting fear be the defining framework of our approach to combatting terrorism. Our own Tankwoman posted one of the better ones I saw in that regard.

Another line of that thought was about how Dems need to stop whining about the Republicans "politicizing" 9/11 and asking for "apologies" for this and that. Of course the Republicans are politicizing 9/11! They've been doing it for five years and *it's been working for them*. The Dems need to stop whining about the obvious and jam them over and over about the mistakes, blunders and - yes, Virginia - crimes they've committed in the name of their Global War on Terror (GWOT). Maybe even take a deep breath and challenge the "war" metaphor for the antiterrorism effort.

We have a version of that going on in California over the tape on which Gov. Schwarzenegger appeals to white bigots and anti-immigration fanantics with his comment that black people and Latinos are "hot" (i.e., irrational, overly-emotional) because of their physical racial heritage.

The news that Phil Angelides Democratic campaign admits giving the information to the LA Times (Angelides manager: we were the source Daniel Weintraub, California Insider blog 09/12/06) doesn't diminish my suspicion that Schwarzenegger's campaign may have wanted this to "leak" so he could issue his non-apology apology to let the hardcore Republican white folks know that he supports their particular racial prejudices.

But Democratic timidity and "press corps" dysfunction are combining once again to make what should be a slamdunk positive for the Democrats into a muddled mess that could well wind up being a positive political point for Schwarzenegger. Once the press corps script becomes "Schwarzenegger made an off-color remark and apologized for it but the Democrats behaved unethically in leaking it," then it becomes both an "I'm your guy" message from Schwarzenegger to the hardcore Republican base *and* a resassurance to those suburban whites who would like to think of themselves as "fiscally conservative but socially tolerarant.


Let's start with the fact that the Angelides campaign found the recording during their routine monitoring of the Governor's Web site. The Schwarzenegger campaign's claim that it was inappropriate, unauthorized access is pretty weak in itself, and until there's actual proof I'm going to accept the Angelides campaign's claim that there was nothing improper done in accessing it.

In any case, I'm guessing that most voters wouldn't consider it any kind of a scandal unless somebody hacked through a security firewall. (Weintraub's blog post linked above has details on how the Angelides people say that did it, which is plausible enough on its face.) But Schwarzenegger's non-apology apology has already sent a clear message to the base, reinforced on Tuesday by Schwarzenegger's op-ed criticizing immigrants for displaying Mexican flags. Mission accomplished. The message was sent and received: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republicans will protect you from brown people.

This article provides a good look at how seriously the hardcore, conservative California Republican base takes Schwarzenegger's alleged "moderation" - Republicans Stick to Schwarzenegger Despite Clashes Christian Post/AP 09/11/06:

Gelia Crayton is the picture of conservative California. She worships at the Crystal Cathedral, Orange County's gleaming megachurch, and opposes abortion and gay marriage. She thinks illegal immigration is the scourge of the state.

Crayton's hardline views are at odds with the moderation Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has gone out of his way to advertise this year, as he seeks re-election.

Yet on a recent Sunday after church services here, the 58-year-old real estate agent pledged to stay loyal to the governor "until he says, `Taxes are going to go up and welcome illegals."'

Don't ask me to pay taxes to support my country or state or community, and protect me from the brown people that speak some funny language. (I mean, just as long as you don't come arrest me for having Javier mow my lawn and Lucía clean my house.) A good Christian Republican creed. And Schwarzenegger's the guy for her. She's not worried about that "moderation" that is so charming the press corps.

Her friend Ruth Daugherty, who also was worshipping at the Crystal Cathedral, excused the governor's moderate stance on immigration [!!?!] as a political necessity in a state like California, where Democrats dominate.

"I think he's doing the best he can," said Daugherty, 73, a retired banker who lives in Irvine, "because he can't be as vocal about it as we are and get elected."

They had the message even before this week. The "black/Latino blood" tape just reinforced it.

So, why did the Angelides campaign think they needed to leak this? In my own not-running-for-office-myself lay person's view, Angelides missed a real opportunity to bring out the tape himself in a campaign commercial or publich appearance and jump on it directly saying something like:

"Okay, white folks out there in the suburbs. You think racial crudity is restricted to George Allen in Viriginia? You think Schwarzenegger's pandering to hard-right anti-immigration militants was just a passing phase? You think that if you're voting for Schwarzenegger and his Republicans that you're not supporting and enabling rightwing bigots? Well, think again. Take another listen to Schwarzenegger saying what he thinks about race. Maybe that youthful admiration for Hitler had more influence that he'd like you to believe."

Yes, the Republicans would howl as usual about how terribly unfair it all is. But it's not unfair. Let them howl, and let them do their comma-dancing over and over and over again, parsing each word to make it sound harmless and in doing so reminding Latino voters and white suburbanites who like to think of themselves as "respectable" Republicans just what they're voting for when they vote for Schwarzenegger and his party.

Instead, the Dems "leak" it to the press - actually it sounds like they were just doing the job our "press corps" is too lazy to do, i.e., monitoring what's actually publicly available on the Governor's Web site - as though mentioning it were something to be ashamed of.

And so instead of the story being "Schwarzenegger sounds like a bigot", we get stuff like this: The flap over his yap: Who's listening to the governor's tapes? Sacramento Bee editorial 09/13/06.

Thank goodness that California's two candidates for governor are finally grappling with some blockbuster issues. Better schools for our kids? Affordable health care? Fiscal responsibility?

Nahhh. The big story in Sacramento is Tapegate. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was caught making some boneheaded comments about a Latina legislator, and the Los Angeles Times got hold of the tape. The governor quickly apologized. Now we learn that employees in the Angelides campaign downloaded the digital recording off the governor's own Web site and leaked it to the Times. ...

So stay tuned for the next episode of Tapegate. In the meantime, any campaign issues of substance have been suspended because of technical difficulties.

Ah, just some boneheaded comment. True, a corporate executive or a public school teacher could get fired for saying it on work premises, but, hey, why bother? Isn't it silly we're talking about this at all? Those ridiculous Republicans and Democrats. "Tapegate". That's a cute name isn't it? Ha, ha, silly politicians.

"The governor quickly apologized." This rapidly congealed into the press corps script. They aren't going to challenge their own script. If the Dems don't do it, the alternative view is not likely to be presented in public nearly as much as the phony, "The governor quickly apologized."

Let's remember Schwarzenegger's non-apology apology:

Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize, because that was not the intention. (my emphasis)

Translation: I'm sorry some of you people are such pathetic losers as to feel offended; I'm sorry you have such a comtemptable reaction. That was not my intention. My intention was to ridicule blacks and Latinos, especially the female variety, in private. (Alternative translation: My intention was to have this become public so the Republican base will remember I dislike brown people who speak Spanish as much as they do.)

The Democrats should be using this to bash Schwarzenegger, not huffing about his bad manners or allowing it to become muddled into an obscure discussion about how the Governor's office had their computer file directory set up.

The Republicans have worked hard to become the party of the "angry white folks". The Dems should be reminding everyone of just how much that is what the Republicans are.

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