John Rocker, meet Donna Brazile. Why not? The two have much in common -- the same intellectual expansiveness, the same tolerance for diversity of views, the same willingness, as they might say, to "reach out."
As official manager of Vice President Gore's presidential campaign, Ms. Brazile is the less known of the two, though if she keeps it up she'll be a household name in no time. Last week, Brazile gave a revealing interview on the subject of race and politics to the news service Bloomberg.com. "Republicans," she thoughtfully observed, "bring out Colin Powell and J. C. Watts because they have no program, no policy. They play that game because they have no other game. They have no love and no joy. They'd rather take pictures with black children than feed them."
Reaction from Powell and Watts was swift. Both sent outraged letters to Gore, who issued limp statements of praise for Powell in hopes of calming the general down. Gore will likely have to do much more of this, so long as he keeps Brazile around the office. Less noted, in the same interview, were the campaign manager's comments about gay rights. Referring to the gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death in late 1998, she said: "Remove all barriers. If we have to tear down the legal structure to give gays and lesbians full equality and freedom, then let's do it."
Someone might want to ask the vice president precisely what "legal structure" his campaign manager wants to tear down. It should make an interesting plank in the Democratic platform.