Lost in Space
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich acknowledged in Tuesday night’s Democratic debate that he believes he had a past encounter with an unidentified flying object, and at Shirley MacLaine’s house, no less. It’s a concession that, in a normal political year, might have clinched for him the title of most delusional presidential contender. But as the rest of the debate showed, the title is not going uncontested. There was Senator Obama, who called for rewarding Iran with diplomatic relations with America and with membership in the World Trade Organization. There was Senator Edwards, who faulted Senator Clinton for voting for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment authorizing tough sanctions against Iran, an amendment Mr. Edwards fumed “looks like it was written by the neocons.” In case voters missed it, Mr. Edwards repeated the charge that Kyl-Lieberman was “written literally in the language of the neocons.” Too bad Mrs. Clinton lacked the presence of mind to come back with a question, “What language is that, John, Hebrew?”
Mr. Edwards went on to attack “drug companies,” “insurance companies,” “oil companies,” “hedge funds,” “power companies,” and “powerful monied interests in Washington D.C.,” leaving open the question of whether there is any sector of the American economy that he hopes will prosper, other than trial lawyers and hairdressers. Meantime, Governor Richardson, asked about his “red line” on Iran, retreated from the standard insistence that Iran cannot be allowed to develop, build, or have nuclear weapons to a new, lower standard — “We can’t permit Iran to use nuclear weapons.”
Mrs. Clinton described the Bush-Cheney years — a span of low unemployment and healthy economic growth, in which America was the unchallenged global superpower — as “a disastrous period in American history.” Mrs. Clinton said the defense industry “needs to be pared down and reined in,” quite a comment from a senator who routinely sends out press releases boasting of the millions of dollars of pork for New York State defense contractors with which she lards appropriations bills. She delighted the European and Asian defense companies that compete with American firms in the global economy. Not one Democrat suggested we wait for the Communist Chinese, the Russians, and the Islamofascists to pare down and rein in their defense industries before we downsize ours.
Then there was Senator Biden, who boasted of having led a delegation to negotiate with Leonid Brezhnev in 1979, as if that qualifies him for the presidency. Mr Biden went on to accuse Mayor Giuliani of not being able to make a sentence without “a noun, a verb, and 9/11.” Mrs. Clinton chimed in again to give such a muddled non-answer about whether she backed Governor Spitzer’s plan to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants that both Messrs. Edwards and Obama attacked her on it. “I was confused on Senator Clinton’s answer. I can’t tell whether she was for it or against it,” Mr. Obama said. Mr. Edwards said, “Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes.”
The sound bites will be devastating if used by Republicans in a general election campaign commercial against Mrs. Clinton. What a crew. The only thing missing was a flying saucer. At least we didn’t see one, though there’s no telling what Mr. Kucinich may remember. What is for sure is that the positions expressed by the Democratic candidates were anything but down to earth.