In one of its first actions of the new school year, the College Democrats put up signs that said, "Bush out of Control? Weedwhacking with the College Democrats."
I found this ad thought-provoking: what kind of maniac would use a weedwhacker to trim a bush? Hedge shears would do the trick, but a weedwhacker would not only be ill-suited for the job, but also extremely dangerous.
However, the sign does serve a good purpose: it is a metaphor for the College Dems as a whole?they realize that they have a problem but their solutions are both insane and hazardous to their own health.
The College Democrats are hopping mad this fall. Have you noticed? The Orient had so many articles and letters to the editor written by College Democrats last week it read like their own personal newsletter. True to form, each of these four letters criticized either President Bush or the College Republicans while skimming over the whole "John Kerry for President" issue.
Charlie Ticotsky's letter was critical of a Republican anti-Kerry "character assassinating...attack video" that is currently airing on BCN. Meanwhile, the Dems' ad that casts Bush as a whiskey-drinking idiot continues its infamous run on the same channel. The point of the Democrats' ad is to prove that Bush is a drunken idiot and that his 80-year-old mother looks like a dude. Obviously, the Dems have a different idea about what a "character attack" is than the rest of the world. The Dems will continue to look ridiculous as long as these ads stay on the air.
The Dems also do not see the hypocrisy in the letter written by Thomas Rodrigues entitled "Registration Should Cross Party Lines." This sounds like a great idea, so I would encourage the Dems to take down the huge Bowdoin College Democrats signs whenever the group does a voting drive. The Dems use their voting drives as recruiting efforts for the College Democrats first, voter registration second. This is the Bowdoin Democrat version of nonpartisanship.
In their next plan of action, the Dems enlisted the charming John Rosenthal '06 to represent their party on the BCN political talk show Crossing the Line. Rosenthal commented that he "hates" people that "pop their collar" on their polo shirts. The Dems continued to show that they are a party of compassion and understanding?as long as you do not "pop your collar." Meanwhile, the campus waits with bated breath for the Dems to publish their full list of unacceptable fashion statements for this fall season.
So, the Dems on campus have been busy. Unfortunately, they devote themselves to Bush-bashing, Republican-bashing, and "popped-collar kid" bashing instead of debating real issues or supporting their candidate. Remember John Kerry? Although the election is just about a month away, the "John Kerry issue" has been glossed over by their organization.
Kerry needs all the help he can get. While the Dems on campus have done exhaustive work proving that Bush is a whiskey-swilling moron, they have not done any work explaining why they support Kerry. They bristle when the Republicans highlight his slow-developing opinions on Iraq, but they forget to explain how Kerry would have, or will do, a better job. Instead of contributing positive support for a man that is still mysterious to many Americans, they complain endlessly about Bush, as if we have not been reading rehashed anti-Bush submissions every week in the Orient for four straight years.
After all, is it not the job of the Democratic Party to advance its candidate? Unbelievably, I have mentioned John Kerry's name more times in this article than the Dems did in four articles in the Orient last week.
The members of the College Democrats need to look at themselves and fix their own organization, especially before criticizing others. Real Democrats on campus are humiliated by the actions of the student group that bears their name, and it is about time that the College Democrats dedicate themselves to reasonable and professional dialogue. I hope that the Dems recognize and correct their mistakes, because right now the Bowdoin College Democrats are choking discourse and forgetting about their candidate while humiliating real Democrats campus wide.