JOLLY DAYS

Franken And Kerry

Here is why the Democrats are going to have problems in the upcoming election.

A liberal talk network is formed, discussed for months before it actually started airing, determined to plug into the outraged feelings about the last election, to be energized by the Dems' angst about the way the Republicans have conducted themselves.

So what happens? The Democrats want to be clever and nice:

Air America may yet grow as a radio network, but the first day mostly highlighted the difficulty of trying to match the fervor and ferocity of right-wing radio. Satire and sarcasm come more easily than rage to Mr. Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” performer and writer. And rage — unbound by reason or reticence — is what fuels the most successful political talk shows.

Meanwhile, giving rise to memories of George McGovern, who never really wanted to win, an article about Kerry having his surgery at a time that is crucial to gaining momentum and establishing a self-definition.

Some Democrats said that should Mr. Kerry lose in November, he might well remember this month as the time when he seriously undermined his hopes of defeating Mr. Bush. A few invoked one of Mr. Kerry's least-liked comparisons, noting how another Massachusetts Democrat who ran for president, Michael S. Dukakis, stuck close to home in August 1988, in what turned out to be a foolish strategic move in his campaign against Mr. Bush's father…

As Mr. Kerry has stayed on the slopes and the sidelines, the president has pressed forward with a meticulously planned and lavishly financed campaign to undercut him with a barrage of speeches and television advertisements intended to portray him as a liberal, unprincipled, big-spending Democrat.

Once again, the Democrats want to be liked, to ingratiate. Once again, the Republicans want to win — and they don't care whether you like them or not. Once again, the Republicans are focused, the Democrats oozing into a protoplasmic mass of irrelevance and distraction.

Back to the future…