Mad as Hell Zell, Darth Cheney and the politics of negativity

The vision of the two grumpy old men (credit to Paul Begalia for the perfect description) of the Republican convention is still burned into my brain, low these two nights later. Bearing a remarkable resemblance to the two old farts Statler and Waldorf from the old Muppet show, Wednesday nights “keynote” speakers, Zell Miller and Dick Cheney took one large step for partisan vitriol and one large backward step for civility of debate.

In an hour of character assassination not seen since Revolutionaries tossed tea into Boston Harbour, the Massachusetts Junior Senator and the Democratic Party’s candidate for President was given the treatment of a witch of Eastwick. All that was missing was a gathering of the townsfolk with a chant for all to hear; Eye of Newt, Pall of Zell, a pox on Kerry, lets give a yell.

For John Kerry, Wednesday night’s televised performance must have felt like he was the guest on Satan’s version of “This is your life”. There in the first half of the nights festivities was a man who apparently is a member of the Democratic Party (though one suspects that his privileges have long since been revoked) railing on about how the Democrats have lost their way and only George W. Bush can lead the Republic.

This from a man who was at Bill Clinton’s nominating convention and used similar negative stylings to denounce one George H. W. Bush. So much for the old saying that the apple never falls far from the tree, in Zell Miller’s world it seems that Bush Sr.’s apple tree was too far to the left of the field, while his son is busy harvesting the right side. The only thing one could take from the speech is that the Bush family apparently doesn’t hold grudges, at least when you can send a talking mule up to praise an Elephant.

Cheney’s time in the spotlight while not quite as rancorous as Millers, still gave us cause to wonder if the man has ever let loose with a belly laugh, a giggle or a guffaw. The best we can hope for apparently is a smirk attached as it is to his perpetually annoyed look. His speech while not nearly as bitter and filled with bile as the Miller screed was, none the less did not elevate the level of debate any. Rather a shopping list of Kerry vote records and the suggestion that he would have to clear business with France before acting. There was no explanation of what his party would do for America, no light in the window of hope for better days. Instead we heard the steady beat of keeping a country on edge, worried for the future, fearful of what has happened in the past. The Republican myth maker, Ronald Reagan once asked in a debate if America were better of at that time than they were four years earlier. Interestingly enough in four nights of convention speeches, that concept never quite came up.

While it’s not likely, perhaps scheduling Miller the night before the Presidents acceptance speech was a case of spectacular scene setting. Compared to the Miller diatribe, the President on Thursday night came across as a reasoned and literate man, rational and sensible. By example he was calm, serene and lucid. Put up against the inane ramblings of the former Georgia Governor, Bush looked and sounded positively statesmanlike. Perhaps that was what Rudy Giuliani meant when he compared the Bush Presidency to the stewardship of Churchill during the Second World War. We’ll need to go back to our history books to find a similar character in the Miller make up, sharing the podium with Winnie. Short of that we’ll just watch some reruns of Monty Python; surely a farce such as Millers has been performed before!

Tis a strange plan to have the court jester set the tone for the King, but considering the Presidents shortcomings at speechmaking, the image of Miller, bug eyed and manic provided Bush the chance to provide a reassuring presence to the National audience.

Everyone heard Millers ravings and can remember the more blistering portions, some of whom, including the President’s own wife who were quick afterwards to try and put some distance between their beliefs and Millers. And who could blame them, best to leave the speaker painted as a lone turncoat loon from the Democrats, than embrace him as the face of new Republicanism.

With a Presidential platform short on the future and long on the past, having Miller foam at the mouth certainly helped create the illusion that the President is a man with bold ideas and resolute in deeds. But by allowing Miller to rant and rave unchecked, the door is now open for reciprocity from the Democrats. Having watched their candidate get little to no bounce from his own convention, remain sluggish in the polls and finding himself mired down in the Swiftboat ads sideshow, the Kerry people will now have to ratchet up their own negative rhetoric to combat the bombast from the right.

With two months until Election Day in the US, civility is about to get the shortest possible shrift imaginable. Sadly for our American neighbours what they really need is a good debate. Providing a serious and passionate discussion about where they have been, where they are going and how they are going to get there. Judging by the tone of the last week, a serious reasoned debate is not likely.