Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   EDITORIAL Friday, February 13, 2004 Civility in short supply as nation faces a barroom brawl For all practical purposes, the race for the Democratic nomination is over and we officially have a new media darling in Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. Of course, the role of media darling is not without its dangers. Less than a month ago, the national newsmagazines were running cover stories about the previous holder of that honor: “Can Anyone Stop Howard Dean?” The answer was yes: Howard Dean. Voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and elsewhere decided that his Internet-driven fund-raising and political skills would not be enough to propel him to the nomination when doubts began to surface about his ability to act “presidential.” Along the way, two old mainline Democrats, Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, fell by the wayside when their candidacies failed to build large enough constituencies and war chests to last more than a primary or two. This despite the fact that both men have long been honorable public servants and both have garnered considerable respect across party lines during their congressional careers. It took a few primaries more for the flaws of (Ret.) Gen. Wesley Clark to become evident enough to Democratic voters that his dreams were derailed. The man who built his candidacy on war experience and down-home populism hoped that the trail from military service to the White House once blazed by Dwight Eisenhower could be ridden again. He proved to be wrong in that assumption. Some historians have contended that Eisenhower saved the western world in World War II, and America rewarded him with eight years of the presidency. With his more limited role in Kosovo, Gen. Clark lacked the luster of an Eisenhower. In any case, his background proved to be of limited value in a media-saturated era. The inexperienced candidate spent most of his campaign explaining what he really meant to say the day before. The once-packed field of Democratic contenders has thus been reduced, for all practical purposes, to the junior senator from Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. The latter has the polish and the popular appeal, the former the military service and a string of primary victories that make him appear unassailable. So media attention turns to the general election. It has been open season on President Bush and his policies for weeks now as the national news corps has covered every word of the Democratic debates and the primaries. The President has already begun to respond in kind. What lies ahead is beyond question. We seem destined for a long and bitter campaign until the last vote is counted. Feelings run deep in both parties; heated rhetoric has already been heard on both sides and we are not yet out of icy February. This could become the ugliest presidential campaign in decades. Love him or revile him, the nation knows what it has in President Bush. Sen. Kerry, at this stage, is a lesser-known quantity. His Senate record is mixed; his positions on a variety of issues have – depending on one’s party affiliation – either evolved to become more nuanced over time, or shifted with the political winds. He will need to demonstrate that he can run a national campaign and avoid the pitfalls that have waylaid nominees and media darlings in campaigns past. As the months unfold, voters will take the measure of the man in debates and on the campaign trail to decide who should hold the presidency come January, 2005. It is the American way. Holding free elections in a free country for our nation’s leader every four years sets us apart from much of the world. For that we should be grateful. Yet we cannot help but wish, as the primaries wind down and the general election heats up, that there were some magic wand we could wave to instill a sense of civility and principled debate into both parties in the coming months. From this vantage point, in an election year when America appears to be headed for the political equivalent of a barroom brawl, that is a result both highly unlikely and devoutly to be prayed for. — Lou Jacquet/Editor   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2004   Democrats’ consideration of modified abortion stance welcome   Coach’s dismissal gives some insight into America’s psyche   Arafat’s death an opening, but Middle East peace remains elusive   The presidential campaign: ‘A pox on both their houses’?   150,000 and more put aside scandals, embrace beacon of hope   When Catholic schools close, parents must shoulder some of the blame   Jews, Christians respect one another across great divide of faith   Latest ‘civil war’ pits defenders of marriage against courts   Civility in short supply as nation faces a barroom brawl   Catholic publications ‘speak truth to power’ nationwide, up north   Past Articles From 2003