34: Democratic Convention
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Sure, the Democrats are doing great in the polls this week, but to consider where they are as a party, consider, please, the case of Joe Cabotzuela, middle-class guy used to vote Democratic, Liz in San Diego, in a state that the Democrats have to take if they're going to take the White House. And let's begin with this fact about him. Although his parents emigrated from Mexico and eventually became citizens, he says that his entire family is in favor of Proposition 187, the law that would deny public services to illegal aliens, no public schooling, no social services. To me, I don't think they should get a free education. If they want an education, they want to come over here, they don't pay for it. You know, I mean, me as a Mexican American, I cannot go over there and get it, you know. Their government is not supplying the needs of the people over there. That's why they're coming over here, because this government's giving it away free. Charge them for it. That's the way I see it. He says he voted Democratic most of his life, and then when George Bush ran for president, he just started seeing things differently. And although he himself had been on and off welfare a couple times, and although his daughter has been on welfare for five years herself, what the Republicans were saying, especially about welfare, made a lot of sense to him. Because I could be on disability if I wanted to, because of my legs, I am disabled, I've had three surgeries, but I refuse to sit at home and watch TV, you know, and collect a monthly chat. That's not me. You know, I believe that that's what made this country great is the fact that we can work, you know. The Republicans seem to share these middle-class values. When I asked him if he liked any of the things that Democrats stood for, he paused a long, long time. And then finally, he said, "Well, what do they stand for?" Women in the military, gay rights, it wasn't that he disagreed with them. It said they seemed to stand for nothing, which brings us to the topic at hand. This week's Democratic National Convention delegates had been instructed that when they talked to the press, they were to talk about the three big themes, three big themes, I should say, designed precisely to win over voters like Joe Kabat-Suella. We have been told that we should be emphasizing the themes of opportunity, responsibility, and community. But these teams are so vague. It's so vague. Anything could be a community opportunity and responsibility, I mean, those could be the Republican themes. That's true. That's true. In fact, this woman, Ruth Horowitz, told me that her delegation, which was from Vermont, had been playing this little game with the theme. The way that it worked is that you try to make up a sentence using all the three words and then you try to work that sentence into everyday conversation. So for example, if you're getting into the cab, you say something like, "I feel it's my responsibility as a member of this community to give you the opportunity to get in first." In a certain way, this was not that different from what people were trying to do in seriousness.
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