Quite a few bloggers out there have commented on the horrendous DNC response from Pelosi and Reid last night after the President’s SOU speech. Today, my fav talk radio personality, Michael Medved commented that the two had sort of a dazed look on their faces. Here’s what James Taranto of Opinionjournal.com had to say of Pelosi and Reid’s post-speech response:

Reid and Pelosi do not, to say the least, present an attractive face to America. As our friend Rich Miniter observed, Reid looked like a doctor who refuses to administer painkillers. As for Pelosi–who is known mostly for being more charming than Barbara Boxer–she stiffly stared at the camera with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

Over all, the tag-team Democratic response had about as much fizzle as a can of soda that’s been sitting out all day. To be fair, most seem to think, myself included, that the whole tradition of a post-SOU speech response is a bad idea anyway.

So, why the dazed look on Pelosi and Reid’s faces? Personally, I think it has to do with the fact that Democrats are as flummoxed by President Bush as Republicans were by President Clinton. Regardless, you would think that, at the very least, the DNC would have bothered to post the statements made by Reid and Pelosi on their website. There is a response from Terry McAuliffe, but whoever posted his response did not even spell McAuliffe’s name correctly!

I’ve been asking this question often for the past couple of years, but I need to ask it again… What in the hell is going on with the DNC?

But lets get back to this flummoxed thing.

DNC leaders have taken President Bush on time-and-again, certain of their inevitable victory, only to wind up on the ropes, wondering how they got there. It reminds me of a movie I saw just recently, “Miracle,” with Kurt Russell. The movie is, of course, the cinematic portrayal of the historic victory of the U.S. hockey team at the 1980 Olympic Games. Kurt Russell brilliantly plays the part of legendary coach Herb Brooks, who was able to devise a strategy which allowed his team to dominate nearly every rival team during the olympics and, ultimately, unseat the world-champion Soviets in dramatic fashion before going on to defeat Finland and winning the gold medal in the final round.

The movie itself is widely credited for its accuracy, which is why one part of the movie flashed into my mind while I was watchng Dazed and Confused (aka, Pelosi and Reid) give the Democratic response to the President’s speech. It was a part near the end of the movie and the US Hockey Team is up by one point with just minutes left on the clock. The Soviet team was desperately trying to score, but Brooks’ strategy, which was working brilliantly, was to continue attacking the Soviets while rotating his players at regular intervals to assure that the players on the ice were fresh and able to aggressively continue their offensive surge.

It was a brilliant strategy. That and the fact that Brooks had worked his team nearly to death to get them up to the same level of stamina as the Soviets, kept them off balance. Right around this time, Brooks’ assistant coach, played by Noah Emmerich, leaned over and said to Coach Brooks, “look at their coach.” Brooks looked over to see the bewildered Soviet coach yelling incoherently to his players on the ice. The assistant coach then said, “he doesn’t know what to do!”

Bingo! The same thing is true of the DNC leadership!

They are floundering, sticking to the same old game plan, yelling incoherently, and, most importantly, are not sure of how to counter all the momentum gained by the President over the past several months. They are even publicly disagreeing with each other on national television.

No wonder the DNC leadership is looking dazed! They cannot figure out what to do next.

I wonder what their meetings are like? You know, when the DNC leadership gathers to discuss next steps and their overall strategy for the next two years. I’m willing to bet there is quite a lot of disagreement, with not all of them (Ted Kennedy!) willing to go along with those final decisions made during the meetings. I’m speculating, of course, but it seems reasonable given the way they are all behaving in front of the cameras.

The Democratic Party is one in disarray, yes, but through no fault of loyal members throughout the US who are just as bewildered as any of us died-in-the-wool Republicans. What will happen to the DNC if they lose in their all-out bid to stop the President’s plan to modify Social Security?

Democrats could win big, but, again, they have nothing to offer which will counter in any way what the President has proposed. All they have to say regarding Social Security is, “it’s fine the way it is; don’t touch it.”

Ummm… Correct me if I’m wrong here, but that doesn’t strike me as a very smart move. It’s not even a plan, just more of a spasm.

But, hey, what do I know? I’m just a pajama-wearing blogger.

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com