Despite their pose as “the party of the little guy,” the dominant Democrats are patronizing elitists who were born to privilege – people like Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and, yes, John Kerry. As a matter of fact, the very phrase “little guy” or “little people” is obviously condescending. The people who volunteer for our armed services aren’t little in any sense: they’re big and self-reliant and proud and powerful and determined, and rightly annoyed by Kerry’s demeaning but revealing attitude. Predictably, major veterans’ organizations (including the American Legion) have demanded his apology.

4. You Can’t Portray the Troops as Pitiable Victims and Still Say You Support Them in their Mission.

The Kerry comments demonstrate the hollowness in Democratic insistence that “we support the troops.” If you believe that the difficult mission to which they’ve devoted their lives represents a war crime and a catastrophe; if you suggest that they’ve been snookered- or forced -into a meaningless, perhaps genocidal errand based on lies and greed and neo-con manipulation; if you see the soldiers on the ground (and in the air and on the sea) as hapless, helpless pawns in some monstrous oil-company conspiracy, then in what significant sense do you support these poor, abused troops?

They see themselves as part of history’s most formidable fighting force – as self-reliant adults capable of following the Marine motto (“improvise, adapt and overcome”) for the sake of an important mission that history will judge generously. Which side in the current debate about the war – Republicans or Democrats—comes closest to expressing the soldiers’ conception of themselves? The margin for Republican candidates among military voters (which regularly approaches three-to-one) provides the most direct answer to that question. The Kerry controversy represents a significant event because it highlights the contrast in GOP and Democratic attitudes with unexpected clarity.

And that brings up the most perplexing question regarding the whole sad affair: why did an experienced politician like John Kerry allow the situation to spin so far out of control without issuing the simple retraction and apology that could have put a quick end to it? Kerry might have responded to the first hint of criticism by announcing, “I obviously misspoke. I meant no disrespect to our troops, but no one was more horrified or appalled at the clumsy and awkward way my words came out than I was. I apologize for any offense caused by my ill-considered statement, since I’ve always meant to support – not insult – my brothers and sisters in uniform.” Instead of that sort of controversy-calmingapproach, Kerry chose to fire back in wildly overwrought, intemperate tones at “assorted right wing nut jobs” and “despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.”

Kerry can’t believe that keeping the dispute alive will actually assist his fellow Democrats on November 7, but it might well enhance the Senator’s own position among rabid activists within the party. It’s easy to imagine the failed Presidential candidate huddled with his advisors on his plane to Seattle, resolving that this time they won’t allow themselves to be “swift-boated” and will shoot back with all partisan barrels blazing. If nothing else, the red-meat rhetoric about feeling “disgusted” at “Republican hacks who have never worn the uniform of our country” might stir the pulse of the party’s perpetually outraged base that views Bush and Rumsfeld (who both did wear the uniform, by the way) and Cheney and Tony Snow as personifications of pure evil. Kerry’s only hope at winning another nomination over Hillary Clinton and, perhaps, Barack Obama is to run to their left --- so he hopes that the George Soros wing on the party will remember his stalwart stridency on this issue, even if it costs Democrats the Congress.

In this context, it’s possible that the current episode will emerge as more than a passing diversion in the midst of intensifying hysteria that inevitably precedes a crucial election. If nothing else, Kerry’s initial gaffe and his subsequent refusal to retreat or readjust demonstrates the Democratic difficulty of accommodating the passions of Moveon.org and CodePink at the same time they attempt to reach out to the American mainstream.