Erskine Bowles - Democrat In Hiding

With North Carolina Senator John Edwards running for Vice President, his seat in the U.S. Senate is being sought by Representative Richard M. Burr, a five-term Republican Congressman, and Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and former White House Chief of Staff for the Clinton administration. In his campaign, Burr proudly asserts being a Republican with close ties to President Bush while reminding the voters that his opponent is a Democrat. On the other hand, Bowles' campaign doesn't allow his name to be associated with the Democrat Party in any manner. In fact, the main page of Bowles' website indicates only one reference to the Democratic Party and it pertains to his favorite issues. All one finds is:

These ideas are not Republican ideas or Democratic ideas.

The fact that Bowles is a Democrat is hidden from the reader. Bowles also doesn't mention that he was one of Bill Clinton's primary sounding boards and continues to be part of the DNA of the Democratic Party. And no one will hear Erskine Bowles talk about John Kerry either.

In North Carolina, a state where President Bush has strong support, Bowles must pretend that he is independent from the Democrats in hopes of winning the hearts of uninformed voters. It's generally recognized that politicians don't like to be called liberals because the voters often refuse to elect them. Now we have Democratic politicians, in at least one state, that don't want to be associated with the Democratic Party. And what's most interesting is that the Democrats have been accusing the Republicans of deceiving the American people. In reality, Erskine Bowles is doing some deceiving by trying to pull a classic bait-and-switch on the voters of North Carolina.