Day: July 3, 2006
Bill Nelson: Victim of Not-Perfect-Enough Syndrome
Poor Bill Nelson. The Democratic U.S. Senator from Florida is either being damned with faint praise, or jinxed by favorable early polls.
Over and over, good Democrats lose because they are not perfect enough for other Democrats to support.
As PR Editor in Chief Jon noted recently, a new poll gives Nelson a 35 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R) in his race for re-election. In the post’s comments, PR Editor Buck agreed with the rosy assessment, predicting, “It basically does not matter who ends up with the Republican nomination, Nelson’s gonna win unless he sleeps with [fellow U.S. Senator] Mel Martinez.”
But other comments revealed a much larger problem for Nelson.
shellynm: “Who cares! Nelson votes with the Republicans a great deal of the time on VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES.”
spencer1: “shellynm is absolutely right! I can’t vote for Nelson, I guess I’ll write in, NONE OF THE ABOVE”
Stephen Kriz: “If Nelson is the best that the Dems can do, I’m goin’ Green!”
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Here’s what Democrats do: They look at all the candidates, assess their positions, and pick the one who most closely agrees with their most strongly held views. Factors like electability, party affiliation, and the big picture are tossed aside. They are perfectly willing to vote for Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, John McCain, or any other kook out there, particularly if they feel it will send a message to Democratic candidates that they should think more like them in the future if they want their vote.
Here’s what Republicans do: They look at all the candidates, locate the one with an “R” after his or her name, and send that person a check. When time comes to vote, that’s who they cast their ballot for. They are not distracted by third-party candidates like Libertarians who favor ending government (and especially taxation) as we know it — even if they agree with that idea — because they realize this will only split their voting power and a Democrat will end up with the office.
Over and over, good Democrats lose because they are not perfect enough for other Democrats to support.
The most significant part of the poll Jon cited was the answer to this question.
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Bill Nelson?
Favorable: 48 percent
Unfavorable: 14 percent
Undecided: 38 percent
That’s 38 percent who haven’t decided if Nelson is perfect enough, and 14 percent who say he’s not. On the other hand, Harris — or Orlando personal injury lawyer and Karl Rove special friend Will McBride — has what 100 percent of Republicans want, an “R” after the name.
Nelson is perfect enough for me. I hope my fellow Dems agree by election time.
Quote du Jour
Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
— Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82
Carter Urges Support for End to Excessive Government Secrecy
The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) turns 40 tomorrow, the day we celebrate our independence. But this anniversary will not be a day of celebration for the right to information in our country. Our government leaders have become increasingly obsessed with secrecy. Obstructionist policies and deficient practices have ensured that many important public documents and official actions remain hidden from our view.
The events in our nation today — war, civil rights violations, spiraling energy costs, campaign finance and lobbyist scandals — dictate the growing need and citizens’ desire for access to public documents. A poll conducted last year found that 70 percent of Americans are either somewhat or very concerned about government secrecy. This is understandable when the U.S. government uses at least 50 designations to restrict unclassified information and created 81 percent more “secrets” in 2005 than in 2000, according to the watchdog coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.
Moreover, the response to FOIA requests often does not satisfy the transparency objectives or provisions of the law, which, for example, mandates an answer to information requests within 20 working days. According to the National Security Archives 2003 report, median response times may be as long as 905 working days at the Department of Agriculture and 1,113 working days at the Environmental Protection Agency. The only recourse for unsatisfied requesters is to appeal to the U.S. District Court, which is costly, timely and unavailable to most people.
