The XCel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota was filled with energy Tuesday night. Yes, after four very difficult years for the Republican Party, the Republicans brought it last night in the first real night of their 2008 national convention.
For all the star attractions of last night’s proceedings (George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Joe Lieberman), the clear winner of the night was former Tennessee senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson who delivered a powerful address in prime-time. He first told the life story of John McCain with humor and power. He certainly had me laughing. And then, when he was done, he launched a significant policy attack on the Democrats and Barack Obama, making it clear that while the issues may be leaning in the Democrats’ favor, the Democrats still have a lot of work to do.
Because the fact is, the Republicans have some pretty good arguments to make. For example, on taxes, Barack Obama assured the American people that he would only be raising taxes on the wealthiest 5% of the population. Yet, Thompson found the hole and attacked it. He pointed out that by raising taxes on businesses, far more than the top 5% of the population could end up being affected. Now, I don’t know enough about the economic particulars to judge the full merit of Thompson’s point. But the clear fact is that Obama has a lot of work to do in order to help rid the Democrats’ (including himself) of their reputation as tax-raisers. And, the Democrats will need to fight hard on the issue of off-shore drilling. And they will need to remind people that the budget was balanced under Clinton, not Bush. And on the issue of Iraq, the Democrats will need to prepare for a substantive debate on whether or not the surge has worked, and what “victory in Iraq” means, and what is actually plausible there.
Another idea that kept coming up was the corruption and inefficiency of Washington D.C. First of all, the whole spectacle was kind of hilarious, because in both conventions, we’ve had all these senators and politicians yelling about the gridlock in Washington. So, everyone seems to agree that gridlock is a bad thing. Yet, how many of these senators who are complaining are actually doing something about it. And, honestly, none of them acknowledged the important point that this type of inefficency is built into the unique system of American democracy. So, before we attempt to rise above the gridlock, let’s stop blaming it on each other and acknowledge it’s constitutional origins. And then, let’s try to move on, and get things done for America’s sake. Also, I found it funny how Republicans argued that Barack Obama has done absolutely nothing to take on Washington. Obama played a major part in passing ethics reform upon his arrival in Washington D.C. I guess the Republicans just forgot about that one.
Last night, Bush remarked that “we need a president who understands the lessons of September 11th.” I would argue that President Bush and the Republican Party actually understand very little about September 11th. As a New Yorker who saw the burning embers of the towers with my very own eyes, I deeply appreciated the President’s moving words following 9/11, but I also deeply question his understanding of the event. For a while, he understood that we needed to attack Afghanistan and remove those who had attacked us from power, yet while he made the right choice to go to Afghanistan, he later made the wrong choice in leaving Afghanistan for Iraq.
Certainly, Bush’s understanding of 9/11 is very shallow. He understood that we needed to fight back, yet never attempted to delve into why we were attacked in the first place. Any solution to the terrorist problem must involve a through investigation into why significant numbers of Muslims around the world are drawn to join or provide support for terrorist armies. Bush, however, failed to grasp the basic concept. And Republicans still fail to grasp this simple but crucial concept. Take Thompson, who claimed that the only way to protect America is to go on the offensive. This statement is as incorrect as it is simple. To fight terrorism doesn’t simply mean to grab the gun. If Republicans fail to understand this after seven years, then maybe it’s time for new leadership.
I would argue that we need a president who not only understands the lessons of 9/11, but also understands the lessons of the last eight years. Mistakes were made. This is our chance to fix them. Let’s not screw it up. Let’s make America and the world proud again, proud enough so that the world can say “We are all Americans” once again.
In other political notes:
When I saw Joe Lieberman speak last night, I began to wonder why the Democrats didn’t seize the opportunity, and have Lincoln Chafee, the principled former Republican senator from Rhode Island, speak at their convention.
Separately, in his speech last night, Bush mentioned something about angry liberals, which reminded me of how odd the portrayal of liberals is in this country. We’re angry but aloof and all at the same time. I just don’t get it. And how can he say we’re angry, when his is the party of Michael Savage and Ann Coulter. The real truth of the matter is that both sides have misplaced anger (from Jeremiah Wright to Coulter). Both sides also have optimists and pessimists, moderates and extremists, pragmatists and idealists. Even in a time of bitter partisanship, we ought to be able to admit that the two parties do have certain human elements in common.
And that’s all for last night’s proceedings. I’ll have more thoughts tomorrow following the Palin speech. Thanks for reading. Good night.
