Monday, August 9 2004
IF IT'S NOT CLOSE THEY CAN'T CHEAT: We've put up two excerpts from Hugh Hewitt's excellent new book, If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat. Fair warning: the book makes no pretense to be non-partisan in terms of the Republican-Democratic debate in the country.

While parts of the book may be infuriating to Democrats, it is excellent political reading for individuals on both sides of the aisle. The first excerpt we posted, The United States is, Really and Truly, in a War, covers the in-your-face political argument Hewitt makes against the modern day Democratic Party which essential boils down to the assertion that the Democratic Party of 2004 can no longer be taken seriously to defend the security of the United States.

The second excerpt, Parties Matter A Lot, deals with the importance of political parties in affecting real life policy changes. Hewitt is brutally frank when he writes that:

There is no point being involved in politics unless you are an active Republican or Democrat. If you are an independent or a minor party candidate, you have no say in things.

The book stresses the importance of the average person becoming actively involved in the political process whether it is by giving money, having house-parties for candidates, writing letters to the editor or calling in on talk radio.

He points out that politics requires simple messages that can be easily conveyed to the broad public and reveals the lack of sophistication among the "intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals" who arrogantly look down on this type of political discourse.

Recall that in the months after 9/11, some of President Bush's critics mocked him for his repeated condemnations of "the evildoers" and "the evil ones."

But what Bush was doing then, and has successfully continued to do, was to assure that every segment of the American population could understand what the war was about. The shocking pictures of the collapse of the World Trade Center are certainly burned in the brains of most Americans, but Bush had to go far beyond these pictures. He had to explain the breadth and depth of the enemy, and he had to completely deligitimize and ostracize Al Qaeda and its supporters.

The brilliant repetition of the world evildoers might have amused Bush' critics, but it cemented into place the American public's understanding not only of the terrorists, but also of President Bush's understanding of the terrorists.

Bush communicated through stark language and repetition that he was not going to indulge any softheartednedness about the attackers, that there could be no excuse for them, and that no quarter would be given.

The message was sent and the message was received, loud and clear.

It is this "simple" message that drives the elites on the left and their counterparts across the Atlantic to lampoon President Bush as a moronic cowboy the same way they mocked Reagan a quarter a century ago.

Hewitt also spells out for Republicans strategists sound advice on dealing with three issues that he suggests have real potential to hurt GOP candidates; abortion, guns and the environment.

On abortion:

There is a majority opinion that abortion is a very wrong, but necessary freedom in the early months of a pregnancy. There is a majority opinion that abortion after even three months is a profound moral failing and that it is reprehensible late in pregnancy. The political dynamic of the country does not welcome a debate over those positions. Pro-lifers who wish and pray for courageous judges who will stand with legislative discretion are well and fully advised to work quietly -- quietly -- for the election of politicians who stand for the conservative opinion.

On guns:

Guns aren't going to go away. Ever. No Republican should ever think about pursuing a gun control agenda on the party.

But the gun absolutists have to realize the prohibition on individuals owning machine guns and high-powered automatic weapons makes sense to a large majority of Americans. So if the GOP agrees with this consensus, the gun absolutists should sit down and shut up.

On the environment:

As a political issue it works for the Democrats. There's not much sense complaining about this and bringing up Teddy Roosevelt, the GOP hero who started the national park system. The apparatus of the Left when it comes to environmental propaganda is vast and powerful. The GOP does what it can to counter the nonsense and the scare-mongering of the Left, and to point out the horrible failures of collectivist environmentalism, but the press is arrayed against the Republicans on this issue and there is not much hope of cracking the the united front of media and hard Left environmental activism.

He labels these three the Bermuda Triangle of issues for GOP candidates and suggests Republicans would be wise to press hard on all of the other issues where the playing field is considerably more favorable to their side.

After national security and taxes, Hewitt points out four issues that, "if approached carefully with discipline and skill, can reap huge benefits for Republicans."

Immigration Reform:

Policy on illegal immigrants is the most difficult issue in American politics on which to communicate without giving offense or sparking outrage, but the GOP has to master this skill or forfeit the majority it currently enjoys. The demographic realities of America compel serious political activists grasp this fact and learn this issue while adopting President Bush's tone. There is no alternative.

Judges:

This issue is a winner for the GOP because the Democrats have played a radical and outrageous hand and adopted an extremist agenda that, while satisfactory to its elites and elites in the media, deeply offends most fair minded Americans who hear of it.

Gay Marriage:

The vast majority of Americans understand and accept that the ranks of their fellow citizens include millions of gays and lesbians, and that these citizens are and should be equal in every respect to all other citizens....But a healthy majority of Americans believe that marriage is an institution divine in origin, an institution that the state regulates closely and the state should not extend to same-sex couples.

God:

People of faith in the Democratic Party have to understand that their party has declared war on the public expression of their traditional faiths. The issue of the defense of religious freedom is one that strengthens the GOP the more it is on display. The majority position in America is that people of faith should be respected and should never be discriminated against because of their faith. The Democrats have abandoned that tradition because of abortion rights absolutism on the part of its most powerful special interests.

Hewitt suggests that these four issues present huge opportunities for the GOP to move millions of voters into the Republicans Party.

For anyone interested in American politics, If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat is a must read. Though there is no question about Hewitt's partisan leanings, William Kristol of The Weekly Standard is right when he declares that "Hugh Hewitt is the nicest partisan I know." And while Democrats will certainly disagree with many, if not most, of the book's assertions, in many ways it is a more important book for Democrats than for Republicans. J. McIntyre 8:16 am Link | Email | Send to a Friend