On Kerry, Bush gets assist from Democrats
GEORGE W. BUSH still has the power to make Democrats quake.
The president earns dismal marks for job performance, according to recent polls. His unpopular Iraq war policy stands to turn voters against Republican candidates across the country.
Yet even with the presidential juice at low octane, some Democrats swiftly echoed the White House talking points after John Kerry bungled a bad joke. Kerry, a decorated combat veteran, insulted the US military, they insisted; he must apologize.
All it took to bring them to their knees was the usual: a blast of hot air from the White House, fanned by Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, and cable TV, and then giftwrapped by the mainstream media.
By now everyone who follows politics knows the story line. The senator from Massachusetts struck a nerve when he said, if you aren't educated "you get stuck in Iraq." According to Kerry's prepared text, he was supposed to say, if you're not smart, "You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."
Kerry mangled a not-so-great line. He should have quickly said "I'm sorry" and moved to refocus the discussion on Bush's bungling of Iraq. In the end, convinced by "veteran friends," according to spokesman David Wade, Kerry personally apologized to "any service member, family member or American who was offended."
Meanwhile, Bush continued to promote a war the country does not support. In a radio interview with Limbaugh, Bush said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney "are doing fantastic jobs and I strongly support them." Where's the outrage over that bad joke?
All the outrage was aimed at Kerry, making it "mission accomplished" for the White House. In this case, the GOP got an assist from Democrats such as Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, who has an eye on 2008; Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut; Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana; Representative Harold Ford Jr., a candidate for US Senate in Tennessee; Claire McCaskill, a candidate for US Senate in Missouri; and Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago. Deval Patrick, the Democrat running for governor of Massachusetts, said of Kerry's remark, "I think he knows it was a dumb comment and has said so."
Some Democrats defended Kerry, including Bob Casey Jr., who is running for US Senate in Pennsylvania. Naturally, Casey's opponent, incumbent Senator Rick Santorum, blasted him for displaying the kind of loyalty Republicans reserve for politicians who botch wars, not jokes.
The more timid Democrats were afraid the White House-stirred Kerry controversy would dash the party's hopes for Tuesday's congressional elections. Yet a Democracy Corps survey of 1,200 likely voters, released Nov. 2 by Washington-based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, indicates the fears are groundless. Four-hundred interviews were conducted after two news cycles of Kerry stories and "the story has not helped Republicans," the pollsters said. Voters are focused on Iraq as a reason to vote for a Democrat. "The trends on Iraq promise disaster for the Republicans," the pollsters conclude.
Right now, Kerry cuts a sad figure in American politics. It's not only because he lost to Bush. It's because he views today's controversies through the prism of his failed presidential campaign. While you need to learn from your mistakes, politics is the art of looking ahead, not back.
On a human level, Kerry's obsession with 2004 is understandable. However, it makes no political sense for his party to refight 2004 in 2006 -- or in 2008. Bush won't be on the ballot. Why should Democrats get behind his vanquished opponent, especially one so clearly seeking personal redemption? The party needs a standard-bearer. Kerry often looks like he needs a hug.
But Kerry's fellow Democrats are even sadder than he in their willingness to cut and run from their presidential nominee of just two years ago. Democrats are supposedly on the cusp of regaining power in Washington. If it happens, it will be because the public lost faith in Bush and one-party control. Democrats did not lead the way; they followed the people and the polls. Even today, they seem terrified of standing up to an unpopular president and much-diminished GOP.
The GOP huffs and puffs like the Wizard of Oz. Even after the curtain is pulled back to reveal Karl Rove feverishly revisting Lee Atwater's playbook, Democrats are still the cowardly lion.
Why make the minor mistakes of a man who isn't president more important than the deadly mistakes of the man who is?
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com. 
