Dems: Can't stand prosperity

The phrase "circular firing squad" should be a registered trademark of the Democratic National Committee and its subsidiaries, because it seems like every day I hear or see further evidence that the Democrats just can't stand prosperity.

Today I was clicking around the dial and landed on AM-1230, KLAV ("The Talk of Las Vegas!") -- check out their first-class web site here. It's a real mishmash of political, business and sports talk shows, and apparently they pimp themselves out (sorry, David Shuster) to the highest bidder in order to pay the bills and keep a full slate of shows running throughout the day.

The snippet I heard today was from a "progressive" morning talk show, and the hosts were whining (go figure) about how the mainstream media is missing the boat by covering the presidential nomination process as a horse race rather than focusing on the issues. I'll buy that to a point, but the evidence they pointed to almost made me drive off the road.

"Look at Iowa," whined the host. "After the Iowa Caucus, all the news was focused on Obama winning and Hillary finishing third. But John Edwards finished second. He beat Hillary too. And nobody was talking about him."

Really? We're still whining about Edwards, who's been out of the race for four weeks now? I mean, I liked the guy too -- I even caucused for him in 2004 -- but he had his chance. His vision just didn't resonate with enough Democratic voters, and that had nothing to do with the media.

This anecdote points out a frustrating flaw in the liberal/progressive/Democratic mindset. I love the fact that somebody is out there looking out for the little guy, for the underdog, for the people who don't normally have a voice. So liberals typically speak out for anybody whom they think has been wronged. In this case, it's manifested itself in wistful daydreaming about John Edwards -- but I guarantee you, if Edwards and Hillary were fighting it out and Obama had dropped out already, this same radio host would have been whining about how Obama never got a fair shake.

The thing is, at some point liberals have to move on, accept the facts and rally behind a candidate. They've got a winning ticket staring them in the face with Barack Obama, and right now too many people can't see fit to put their petty differences behind them. The party insiders are clinging to Hillary because "it's her turn," while those on the edge are still sticking up for Edwards.

Keep it up, and we'll get four more years of Republican rule. And the Dems will have only themselves to blame.