Elephant Backs Wrong Horse Again

The Democrats are, we all know, a feckless bunch. The only reason they ever win any elections is if they are perceived as an alternative to something even worse. To look like heroes they need a villain. And we all know that Democrats are awful at vilifying, being so sensitive and all.

Fortunately the people who are great at creating villains are doing it to themselves. One of their favorite demons, Al Franken, recently sponsored an amendment that would "prohibit the Department of Defense from contracting with companies that require employees to resolve workplace complaints — including complaints of sexual assault — through private arbitration rather than the courts. " As it happened, Tell us more, Politico!

Franken says the amendment was inspired by the story of Jamie Leigh Jones, who worked for defense contractor KBR and alleges she was gang raped at the age of 19 when stationed in Iraq — only to find that her contract required that her dispute go through the arbitration process. (My note - gang raped and then imprisoned for several days in an empty tank, denied food and water, and so on.)

...Thirty Senate Republicans voted against the amendment, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, liberal commentators and state Democratic Party chairs have been merciless.

Angry letters denouncing Republican senators have appeared in newspapers from Tennessee to Idaho. Unflattering videos of senators trying to explain their votes have gone viral on the Internet, including one of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) swatting away a hand-held video camera held by a liberal blogger questioning his vote against the amendment.

And Democratic strategists are salivating at the prospects of using the vote against the eight GOP senators who voted against the amendment and are up for reelection in 2010.

“I think anyone who voted against that has some tough explaining to do,” New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told POLITICO. “And I think particularly some incumbents already in a challenged position — it can be very detrimental to them because women voters are going to look at that and wonder, ‘Does this senator stand on my side?’”

...Privately, GOP sources acknowledge that they failed to anticipate the political consequences of a “no” vote on the amendment. And several aides said that Republicans are engaged in an internal blame game about why they agreed to a roll-call vote on the measure, rather than a simple voice vote that would have allowed the opposing senators to duck criticism. "

My guess is the roll call was an attempt to satisfy that rabid base, who are for anything that Franken is against. Unfortunately beyond that, most people see this as a pro-rape/anti-rapeissue. Or if not, siding with corrupt defense contractors doesn't look swell either. See, this is what happens when you feel like you can't moderate! Pro-business is okay as a position, unless the business is Enron or Haliburton.