The Economist on Daschle and "Fahrenheit 9/11"

The Economist has a new piece headlined "Moore's Law." Excerpt:

But “Fahrenheit 9/11” also has some worrying implications for the Democrats. It reminds middle America that liberal activists like to blame their own country for the world's problems. So far no prominent Democrat has seen fit to denounce Mr Moore's view that the war on terrorism is a fraud (the silence from John Kerry has been deafening). Instead, party elders including Tom Daschle and Terry McAuliffe attended the film's premiere in Washington, DC, and other Democrats have helped publicise it.

Mr Moore is a dangerous man to flirt with: remember how Wesley Clark's campaign collapsed when Mr Moore simultaneously endorsed the general and described Mr Bush as a deserter? Mr Moore has a long record of denouncing the United States to foreigners. The Republicans are citing him as proof of their charge that the Democrats are “a coalition of the wild-eyed”. If they have any sense, they may even steal a Moore cinematic technique: show the Democratic elite traipsing along the red carpet to see “Fahrenheit 9/11”, and then cut to a grainy shot of Mr Moore telling Britons that Americans are “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.”

Mr Moore is a formidable ally if all you want to do is attack Mr Bush. But the Democrats want to govern the country. With Messrs Bush and Kerry running neck-and-neck in the polls, they should be careful whom they hang out with.

(Emphasis added.)