That Confusing Morality Thing

Not surprising given his life history, Ted Kennedy is clueless on the morality vote and how the Dems should respond to it. Here's the segment on this topic from Wednesday night's Hardball with Chris Matthews ... with my (commentary) in red parentheses and snide additions to what they said in just plain red. The segment starts with a brief discussion of Kerry.

MATTHEWS: Now, listening to you today [at the National Press Club], on two issues— the war and the prospects of the American people— health and jobs. You sound like an old-time serious Democrat. How come you don’t hear that from Kerry this year? There were no guts in the campaign, like you have. (Yes, that is quite a gut Teddy's got there.) I mean, gutsy as not in good or bad, but guts, human visceral quality to your argument. Do the Democrats have to talk like that again, you know, like Howard Dean and the Reverand Sharpton did so effectively?

KENNEDY: I’ve known John Kerry and I’ve met him when he just came back from Vietnam and he demonstrated extraordinary physical courage under battle on that part. And I thought he ran a strong campaign. (Forget that the most Dem leaders went into the campaign thinking Bush was hugely unpopular and would me a push-over.)

What I was outlying today... (Now there's an interesting little transcribing error!)

MATTHEWS: He wasn’t as clear on the war like you are.

KENNEDY: Well, we had a meeting in which he has explained both sides of his clear position.

But what I’m talking about is that we are faced with globalization today. We are faced with globalization. It's globalization we're faced with, Chris, globalization. If the Republicans want to talk about values, we’ll talk about values, or globalization, if you'd rather. I believe that they use values in a way that is negative and distortion in a way to exploit fears. (Well, there is that little fear that the country's going to H-E-Double-Toothpicks in a handbasket.)

Democrats talk about real values as hope and opportunity and about respect. Those are our values. (No, Ted, those aren't values. They are the hoped-for rewards of good policy ... unfortunately, not your policies.) We glad to debate them on the values. And secondly, I believe that we are facing globalization and we have to equip every citizen, every American citizen, so they can deal with globalization, individually. And we as a country have to be with it. With it, with globalization, I mean, Chris.

When we saw Sputnik, in 1957 (during the Republican Eisenhower administration), and we went ahead and said, "Look, we need to have a crash program for math and science." We have doubled the education budget. (I'll remember this the next time I hear Ted lament our poor test scores and request more education funding.) We increased our scientists and research by over $100,000 for four consecutive years. (Isn't he getting into off-the-globalization here?) We can do it. And we shouldn’t be left behind.

We are going to compete with the outsourcing of low-wage jobs , for jobs that are a threat to families in this country by raising the minimum wage, that'll do it, and for the Wal-Martization of our industrial base. That is not the vision I see for America. And I think the Democrats have to embrace this opportunity and they can win with it. (If there were no War on Terror, and if they had a clue about how to accomplish this, he'd have a really good, potentially winnable proposition here. But those are big "if's.")

MATTHEWS: Could you have won in Ohio with this argument?

KENNEDY: I believe in it. (Note that he didn't say "yes," or even "I believe it." I believe in it?)

MATTHEWS: You are focusing on the economy, and yet the Republicans hit values. They hit abortion, gay marriage. And the Democrats get thrown on the defensive.

KENNEDY: We’re not on the defensive. (Oh, if wishing it could make it so ....) What is the issue in terms of values when they want— when we see men and women working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year and they can’t provide for their families, or to educate, or to clothe and feed them. That is a value. (No, Ted, it's a choice people make to not get a good education, it's bad luck, it's any number of things, but it's not a value.)

What about Iraq? And the distortion and misrepresentation about telling the truth in Iraq? That is certainly a value. (Well, lying is a value, but getting intelligence of no value isn't a value.) What about telling the truth in terms of Social Security, about where we are on that? (As in it's crashing and the Dems are ignoring it, Ted?) That is certainly a value, as well. (Oh c'mon Ted, this is getting tiresome....)

We will welcome the opportunity to debate him. (Uh, Ted, you guys lost the last election, so there really won't be another chance to debate President Bush.) We use values for hope and opportunity and respect, which, as you know, John Kerry did an excellent job of communicating to the people. They use it in a negative way. (That'll work, Ted! Just have the Dems call faith in God negative! Then throw in hetrosexual marriage as negative! How about protecting the unborn! EEEAAAAAYAAAH!)