Last night I predicted Democrats would start to realize how unseemly the Wellstone pep rally was, and the defenses would begin to taper off. Here are my exact words:
1.) The outright denials that anything was wrong with the event will taper off throughout the night and tomorrow.
2.) When the first poll comes out showing a tightening of the race, Dems will begin to concede- but only as Democrats can do. They will not admit at first that it was wrong or tasteless, just that they ‘understand’ how it could have been perceived that way.
I was partially right with point #2. I should have included that any backtracking and belated apologies will also be accompanied by ad hominems against anyone who does not have a D behind their name. Witness Tapped today:
JESSE “THE BUFFOON” VENTURA. We’d be willing to agree that, while most of what went on at the Paul Wellstone tribute was unobjectionable — including the exhortations for Wellstone’s admirers to go out and fight for his values on the campaign trail — it was cheap and ill-befitting a man of Wellstone’s grace for the attendees to boo Trent Lott and Jesse Ventura. Even so, Ventura doesn’t exactly win the statesman award by threatening to punish the Democrats like a petulant child.
Punish them? Hey guys, he is an Independent, and an elected one at that. Why is it punishing Democrats for him to appoint an Independent? It is not your seat. Sure, voters in the past voted for a Democrat to the seat, but I didn’t see any bitching when a man ran as a Republican, and then a few months after his race was won became an Independent and voted for the Democrat leadership in the Senate. His name was Jim Jeffords. You guys set the ground rules, and although you change them every chance you get, we are trying our best to keep up.