4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 4, 2004 OPINION 4 420 MAYNARD STREET U ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 opinion.michigandaily.com tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JORDAN SCHRADER Editor in Chief JASON Z. PESICK Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise notid, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE "I'm optimistic about America because I believe in the people of America." - President Bush as part of a series of new campaign ads that use images of firefighters, American flags and the ruins of the World Trade Center. .. ~ COLIN DALY THE MICHIGAN DALY I' f w S1. N 4 Talk of centrists' demise premature JASON Z. PESICK ONE SMALLVOICE 40 he political blooper award of the election season thus far goes to former Vice President Al Gore for endorsing Howard Dean. It was an incredible miscalculation for such an experienced politician. He may have endorsed Dean because he passionately believed in the governor's platform, even though that platform was almost a polar opposite of the stances Gore dedicated his career to champi- oning. Or, maybe, Gore's close loss to Bush enraged him so much that he wanted to endorse the angriest candidate. More likely, Gore thought the Democra- tic Party was heading left, and he wanted to get on board before it was too late. Nixon endorsed the conservative Barry Goldwater in 1964 because that's the direction the Republican Party was heading at the time, not because Nixon and Goldwater were ideological twins. Gore probably thought he would endorse Dean, who would win the nomination and then go on to lose to President Bush. Four years later, Gore would sweep in, win the nomination and finally assume the presiden- cy, which is rightfully his after all. But Gore is not the only person who drew this mistaken conclusion. The common mis- conception of this primary season has been that the influence of the Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist organization within the Democratic Party, has lost its influence. Led by the rank and file, the party was rejecting the likes of Bill Clinton, Bob Rubin, the old Al Gore and Al From. The globalizers were not bona fide progressives. But John Kerry's rapid ascendancy proves this view wrong. Kerry is indeed from liberal Massachusetts, but on a num- ber of issues, including the typical litmus- test issue of trade, Kerry's views are in line with the DLC's. He sounds like Bill Clinton did in 1992 on this issue. The DLC praises Kerry on its website, saying, "As a charter member of the Senate New Democrat Coalition, Kerry has often rejected the stale left-right options that dis- guise the real choices facing the country - choices that are rarely reflected in mechani- cal interest-group Congressional vote rat- ings, but that are in line with the real sentiments of the American people." It goes on to call Kerry a "Blair Democrat," the highest compliment for a centrist Democrat. Gore and the other purveyors of the conventional wisdom were right that the Democrats are angry at Bush. Their error was in believing that this anger would lead them to the open arms of the fiery Howard Dean. Ironically, (well, it's not that ironic when you think it through), this anger led these Democrats to a centrist candidate with an impressive military record. This is because the Democrats are so angry that most of them decided that they wanted to get rid of the source of their anger, the president. They decided to go with a can- didate they felt could win. I guess there really is a difference between Bill Clinton and George Bush. Even liberals are starting to catch on to the American political truism that only a moderate Democrat can win a national election in the current political climate. The American people don't elect protectionist, dovish presidents. The elections that followed Sept. 11 were embarrassing for Democrats. I would like to draw your attention to the sight of James Carville with a trashcan over his head, as the Democrats were humiliated in the 2002 elec- tions. But there have been some bright spots recently. Mary Landrieu held her Senate seat in Louisiana. Mark Warner was elected gover- nor of Virginia, and Bill Richardson was elected governor of New Mexico. And of course Jennifer Granholm is the top dog in our own Great Lakes State. What they all have in common is that they are members of the DLC. Don't forget what happened when the DLC allowed potential presidential candi- dates to speak at its summer convention: Everyone and his great aunt showed up. Sure this primary season featured pandering to the left, but there's nothing unusual about that. In fact, the debate remained pretty moder- ate throughout. John Edwards thought he could make progress with a protectionist, populist agenda. The primary voters liked it, but were too wise to cast their ballots for Edwards. And when the economy starts to pick up again and jobs are created - whether that happens next month or next year - the anti-trade sentiment will dissi- pate. Kerry is about to start his dance to the cen- ter, and I guarantee you, that's where he'll stay. a f I< Pesick can be reached at jzpesick@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Elections amount to media popularity contests, offer no choice TO THE DAILY: Every four years people put themselves through a year-long circus as a way to delude themselves that electing a different president will actually bring about change. For over two centuries, the pattern has repeated itself, with only a small handful of elected officials actually making significant deviation from the plans of their predeces- sors in office. This is due largely to the fact that elections amount to little more than media-driven popularity contests, rather than elections based upon merit and effort. As Super Tuesday draws to a close, it is unfortunate for the American people that the media chose to anoint the Democratic nominee for the presidency following a come-from-behind, surprise victory in rural Iowa. For whatever reason, the media took it upon themselves to place the deci- sion of the sparsely-populated agricultural communities of this small midwestern state onto a pedestal that is supposed to be reflective of our nation as a whole. The man they now treat as a media dar- ling, was only six months ago viewed as too liberal to defeat the incumbent Presi- dent Bush in a general election. Now, he is being painted in a different light by the media, one that shows him as the bringer of hope for this nation. Watching Kerry change stances on a weekly basis, depending on the makeup of the community in which he is campaigning, sickens me quite frankly. This is despite the fact that many of the policies and issues that he campaigns on this week were ideas taken from the other candidates. This will likely change as we shift from Super Tuesday to the South, because industrial trade agree- ments mean little when trying to get elected in the South. His failure to take a firm posi- tion on anything is all too reminiscent of the last New England liberal to run successfully for the nomination. The Democratic Party has failed itself again. It has failed to capitalize on the resur- gence of membership and new voters that Howard Dean brought to the table. It failed to support a proven warrior for the working class in Dick Gephardt. And most recently, it failed to nominate a man in. John Edwards who had a plan for changing America, but was not given the opportunity. The point is likely moot, as Osama bin- Laden will probably be miraculously arrested about a week before the November election, sending Bush's approval rating through the roof. So, when the Bush- Cheney war machine rolls through for the next six months, shredding the Kerry cam- paign to bits, Democrats should think to themselves, "When will we learn?" ROBERT DEVORE LSA senior Co-chair, Students for Edwards Jesus not exempt from lampooning; captions not as serious as others think TO THE DAILY: The Daily has always used photo captions to cleverly lampoon films. That is what photo captions are for - for the editors to drop clever one-liners to supplement the reading. The wit in the use of quotes from other movies is usually quite hilarious, even more so if the movie itself wasn't very good. To think that just because Jesus is a reli- gious figure he is somehow exempt from this lampooning when he is featured in a film is a ridiculous assertion. That's like saying you can't criticize the president when there is a war going on. The only thing more ridiculous is the assertion in yesterday's letter to the editor (Caption inappropriately makes light of crucifixion, 03/03/04) that the Daily somehow "did a disservice to the University ... by mak- ing us all look ignorant and hypocritical." I was personally unaware that the dignity of our entire university rested on the laurels of the photo captioning in the Daily, but with this knowledge, perhaps in the future I will take these matters more seriously. CHAD PRYOR LSA sophomore SEND LEaTtIfR<: 1r.,m~ny An cHGA,0A ,~4 I I 4 4 VIEWPOINT The Iraq war and occupation damage our education BY ANTI-WAR ACTION! It's very easy for students at the Uni- versity to feel isolated from the political drama of our day: Blood spilt in the sandy reaches of the world can seem a little dis- tant. However, the Iraq war, subsequent occupation and the rising tide of mili- tarism in America have direct effects on the lives of students, and we need to start paying attention. Aside from the tragedy of citizens our own age, many of whom are reservists trying to pay for college, dying in a foreign land for dubious rea- sons, students here bear the costs of war. which biases research and restricts intel- lectual freedom. The University, for instance, was recently engaged in a bid- ding contest for an army biowarfare research center. It increasingly seems that if researchers want grants, they must tie themselves to corporate profit or help con- struct weapons of war. Further, as tuition rises and manufactur- ing jobs disappear, underprivileged students are forced into the military system to pay for higher education. Enticed by promises of college and money many young people - particularly those from minority commu- nities with few remaining avenues of oppor- tunity - enlist or join the reserves. In sought by both federal prosecutors and the military itself. Perhaps most frightening are government investigations of student infor- mation through new secret "intelligence" courts, which no one has the legal right to know about. The courts that oversee these warrants are required to give their approval without knowing who is being investigated or why. As result of the Patriot Act, there is no appeal and no oversight to prevent abuse of this system, as happened during the 1970s' COINTELPRO, and there is no reason to believe it is not being abused. Students bear the costs of war - in the quality of their education, in their tuition dol- lars and their civil rights. It is both in our self-interest to onnsemilitarism and 2a V ~I4J~~4 ~ r cAill 4F1k: A3 Cktli ' fiils7 d