Why Democrats shouldn’t be scared

Michael Moore is rapidly becoming one of my favorite columnists. This morning in USAToday (yes, I’m still at a conference and in a hotel), he has a great piece talking about why there’s no need for Democrats to be downhearted after the Republican convention. He reminds us of the real issues we’re facing in this election, and of the reality that most Americans share opinions on those issues that favor our (that is, the Dems’) ideas and vision this time around.

If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times from discouraged Democrats and liberals as the Republican convention here wrapped up this week. Their shoulders hunched, their eyes at a droop, they lower their voice to a whisper hoping that if they don't say it too loud it may not come true: "I...I...I think Bush is going to win."

Clearly, they're watching too much TV. Too much of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Zell Miller, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani. Too much of swift boat veterans and Fox News commentators.

Action heroes always look good on TV. On Wednesday night, the GOP even made an action-hero video and showed it at the convention. There was White House political czar Karl Rove and other administration officials dressed up for "war" and going through boot camp on the National Mall in Washington.

I could only sit there in the convention hall and wish this were the real thing: Rove, national security adviser Condi Rice and Co. being sent to Iraq, and our boys and girls being brought home. But then the lights came up, and everyone sitting in the Bush family box was having a grand ol' hoot and a holler at the video they just saw.

We need to remember that, videos aside, there are crucial issues being decided in this year's election and we need to put those issues front and center. That's what Moore is trying to do, along with a whole host of other people -- not to mention the more than 500,000 protesters who showed up in creative ways at the convention in NYC. (I'd add the link to the article in USAToday that I was reading about this, but no matter how hard I search their online site, I can't find it. Hmmmmm....)