[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Banned in Boston

Thu Jul 29 09:07:51 PDT 2004

The article below from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by michael at intrafi.com.

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Banned in Boston

July 29, 2004
 By MAUREEN DOWD 

BOSTON - The Democratic convention stage has the hushed
mahogany dignity of a Republican men's club: all dark wood
paneling with maroon and faux marble trim. The podium has
an ersatz presidential seal with a flag. Even the hoi
polloi in the press are ennobled by the Eastern
Establishment staging; the writing tables in the
FleetCenter have mock blue marble tops. 

"The preppy stiff," as other Massachusetts pols called
young John Kerry, according to Newsweek, is not doing an
outré interpretation of the flag, like Michael Dukakis's
salmon, eggshell and azure stage in 1988. 

"Stable change," one top Democrat said, in an oxymoron
describing the set for tonight's live shot of "Live Shot,"
as his colleagues dubbed the camera-loving senator. "We
want to bring evolutionary change, not revolutionary
change." 

The Democrats think the way to overthrow the Republicans is
to mimic Republicans. Democratic rivalries are tamped down;
liberal losers are kept offstage or out of prime time; the
positive message - strength, heroism and patriotism - is
relentlessly drummed in. The Swift boat crewmen are toted
everywhere to vouch that John Kerry is a comrade, not just
a set of political calculations. 

When the National Guard mistakenly thought someone was
parachuting onto the FleetCenter roof on Sunday night,
reporters joked that it must be the nominee, once more
proving what a manly man he is in yet another extreme
sport, perhaps even landing in a rocket pack. 

Democrats on the podium who want to rip the nation's
leaders as vile, dangerous deceivers who cried wolf on
W.M.D., trampled the Constitution and left Iraq in chaos
have to stuff it, if not shove it. Their speeches are
scrubbed; Bush and Cheney are barely mentioned. (Kerry
vetters, addicted to focus group dial-o-meters, didn't want
Jimmy Carter to criticize Mr. Bush obliquely for
"misleading" us on the war or not showing up for National
Guard duty. But they couldn't contain him or Al Sharpton.) 

The Democratic money honeys, whose hive is the posh Four
Seasons Hotel, flounce around with wads of embossed V.I.P.
invitations, every bit as regal as Republican Rangers. The
status symbol for the rich is a bejeweled "Kerry 2004" pin
worn by Teresa. The soft-money checks cut in Boston (for
supposedly independent groups run by Democratic loyalists)
make a mockery of the McCain-Feingold law Senator Kerry
supported. 

Democrats are even aping the Republicans' bunker-like
secrecy about meetings with contributors. Reporters
visiting the hospitality suite of one group, ACT, based at
the Four Seasons and affiliated with Harold Ickes, who once
ran Jesse Jackson's campaign, were chased away and told,
"We have wealthy donors to protect." 

You can feel the enormous effort in the air as Democrats
try hard to put a smiley face on Mr. Kerry's long face. 

Republicans can rally around a candidate if they don't love
him, as they did with Richard Nixon in 1968. Even when W.
was at his most unformed, and uninformed, Republicans
easily found words of praise. 

At parties around Boston, Democrats are having a hard time
copying Republicans in that sense; their true feelings too
easily tumble out. At one event I attended with some of Mr.
Kerry's best friends, some toasts went: He can be a pain in
the neck on a typical day, but great in a crisis. 

Paul Starobin of The National Journal reported that at 1:30
a.m. at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge the other night,
Bill Clinton was forsaking both the South Beach diet and
Mr. Kerry (whose success, after all, would impede a Hillary
ascension in 2008). 

Over a cheeseburger and fries, Elvis expounded to Vernon
Jordan and Glenn Close, as Hillary sipped Veuve Clicquot.
"The ex-prez believes that Kerry has got to make the case
of having the requisite" brass to be commander in chief,
Mr. Starobin reports. "Bill has himself been hearing doubts
from moderate, swing voters. 'They think Kerry's smart -
they're not sure he's tough,' Clinton told a handful of
nodding Noir guests." 

Even John Edwards, in the spot usually given to the attack
dog, barked oh so softly (matching the stage in his
mahogany tie), preferring to hail a new man from hope with
the mantra "Hope is on the way." (Dick Cheney, meanwhile,
was as offensive as ever, mocking the unfortunate picture
of Mr. Kerry in his embryonic spacesuit.) 

Some Democrats fear that Mr. Kerry could be falling into a
Republican trap, so worried about offending swing voters
that he misses the knockout swing. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/opinion/29dowd.html?ex=1092117271&ei=1&en=09a24733d950673d

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