Joe Klein: Trying to Lose his Frown

After slamming George Bush for not being tortured enough about going to war this past winter, Joe Klein has written a more sober piece about the Democrats' chances for victory in 2004 -- and about their general viability as a party. One of Klein's recommendations is for Democrats to "lose the frown" which he himself should have done in questioning Bush's faith or its effects on him. Or was that a downright scowl?

Klein repeats things everyone already knows: 1. Democrats should be more patriotic. 2. Democrats should get rid of consultants and find a candidate who is more genuine than Al Gore. 3. Democrats should be more optimistic. Somewhat surprisingly, Klein also argues that the realignment that the GOP yearns for in 2004 already occurred in 1968. But just so his Republican readers don't feel so happy reading about the fact that the Democrats have elected only two presidents in the last 30 years, Klein argues that it was the transformation of the South into a GOP base that was at the root of the supposed realignment. So Republicans are racists who have already achieved their realignment on the backs of blacks. Two words for you, Joe: Trent Lott.

Nevertheless, this is mostly a reasonable piece, and the political change in the South is an important occurence. Now let's see if Klein can take his own advice and resist the scowl he warns against for the Democrats by not writing another piece about how Bush is not tortured enough.