My trip back from Philadelphia was much easier than the flight there. So easy, in fact, that I had time to read through this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Democrats Seek Chief for Party Cast Adrift." The crux of the matter is nicely summarized in an early paragraph:
The problem is, the 440 members of the Democratic National Committee - who must vote soon for a new chairman - can't seem to decide who they want for the job. Which is no big surprise, because they're not really sure about the best future direction for the party, anyway.
One of these DNC members is Bob Mulholland. Here's one of the instances where he is quoted in the article:
But some Democrats, yearning for a fighter who would draw sharp contrasts with the Republicans, don't want a chairman who would merely echo the GOP's red-state sensibility. Mulholland said, "We don't need a DNC chair who wants to be a Wal-Mart greeter."
First, I'll state unequivocally that I enjoy shopping at Wal-Mart and that I enjoy being greeted when I enter the store. Second, I am going to go another round of giving advice to the Democratic party:
You may not want a Wal-Mart greeter to chair your party, but you won't win a national election if you cannot convince Wal-Mart greeters to vote for you. And one of the surest ways to make sure they don't is to speak pejoratively about them.
Judging by Bob's quote, it is apparently okay for members of the Democratic National Committee to score points at the expense of people who earn money by being unfailingly kind to total strangers. Would it also be okay to poke fun at these people if, instead of taking jobs as greeters, they refused to do so and joined the ranks of the long-term unemployed? I don't know who will become the next DNC chair, but I hope the person understands which of these two groups of people is a more solid foundation for his party's coalition.