Dear Editor:
Although I enjoy The Eagle very much, it is always a trial to get through Natalie Marechal's tiresome column. Like the current leadership of the College Democrats, she unintentionally goes to great lengths to insult and demean half of the country, simply because the majority of them did not vote for her candidate.
Instead of trying to intellectually engage ideological opponents, Marechal and the College Democrats leadership prefer to imply that Bush voters are ignoramuses, that we're all Bible-thumpers and also that democracy is in peril simply because their candidate did not get elected. They could not be more wrong.
Perhaps to Marechal's dismay, simply by perusing the exit polls on CNN, she can see that not only did Bush get more votes from the college-educated than Sen. John Kerry, but he also received a strong increase in votes from Jews, blacks, Catholics, Hispanics and - gasp - even gays and atheists. Not bad for an allegedly Jesus-loving, minority-hating, gay-bashing party!
Additionally, lest this "values voter" myth continue for much longer, Marechal should be reminded that when national security - Iraq and terrorism - are put together, it gets far more votes than "values" and is a much stronger indicator of what the electorate turned out for on both sides.
Kerry lost simply because a majority of Americans believed he could not a credible commander-in-chief.
When he said that Hollywood elites represent our "heart and soul" even though they look down on America with contempt, he lost the Midwest. When he chose a condescending trial lawyer with a syrupy Southern accent, he lost the South. When we found out that a secret mission to Cambodia that was "seared in my memory" was actually a 30-year old lie, he lost Vietnam veterans. When he let a pro-fascist filmmaker sit at the seat of honor at his convention, he lost pro-Iraq liberation voters and military people who don't regard Ba'athists and foreign jihadists as "minutemen."
If Marechal and the Democrats continue to behave as if they're the party of all things nice and good without providing any new ideas while insulting half the country, then they can expect even more political isolation every four years. Think about it: While your party has gone further leftward over the past four years, the Republicans have increased ranks among almost every conceivable demographic group while picking up seats in Congress, kicking the incumbent Senate minority leader out of office, getting elected and re-elected to the presidency and maintaining Republican governors in the three biggest liberal states - California, New York and Massachusetts.
Kerry did not lose because of gay marriage; he lost because he ran on a platform of fear, unhinged hatred, and an obnoxious superiority complex. This is no way to win elections and it's certainly no way to run a national party.
John Welter Junior, SPA
