Facing the prospect of losing the House and Senate, national Democrats have their fudge factory working overtime. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts is the latest to pitch an excuse for the dismal November landscape, offering an idea best summarized as, "It's the stupid people, stupid."
Here's what he said: "We have an electorate that doesn't always pay that much attention to what's going on, so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what's happening."
This is standard fare at elite salons, which hold that dissenters from liberal orthodoxy don't have legitimate positions. Opponents are either irrational or venal.
Kerry has charitably chosen a variation on irrational, which is that the majority of Americans are too dumb to understand the liberal vision for their lives. Others have been less kind, with one Washington Post writer likening voters to children, saying they are having a "temper tantrum" and holding "their breath until they turn blue."
These explanations for the public mood are part of the parade of excuses for why President Obama is so unpopular and polarizing. When they get tired of saying everything is George Bush's fault, the apologistas variously blame congressional Republicans, independents, the media, the Supreme Court, insurance companies, doctors, banks, Wall Street traders and life itself.
A few inconsolables blame military leaders, and one friendly pundit had a unique answer: Obama needs new speechwriters. That's an unkind cut for a man who seems to do little but give speeches.
All of which indicates the factory is running out of fudge. We'll know that's the case when the blame falls on the last possible villain: His TelePrompTers.
When it's all their fault, it's game over.
Michael Goodwin is a New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor. To continue reading his column in the New York Post, click here.
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