Democrats, MoveOn and the Monkey Trap

By Denis Keohane

Democrats find themselves caught in something resembling the "monkey trap."

There are varieties of the monkey trap used in Africa, South America and Asia. Some are pottery jugs, some are wooden boxes, but all work on the same principle. The trap is secured to something, perhaps tied to a tree. There is an opening in the trap large enough for the target monkey to reach his hand inside. Bait, usually nuts, is placed in the trap. The monkey reaches in, grasps a fistful of nuts, and finds that when his hand is clenched around the bait, he can’t remove it from the trap.

At that point, the concealed hunter who had been observing this approaches the monkey. Seeing danger coming, the monkey jumps around and shrieks in panic, spitting and snarling and going berserk, but does not do the one thing that would allow him to easily escape: let go of the nuts! He is caught or killed.

When it comes to the MoveOn ad about General Betray-Us, Democrats are like that monkey. There’s a national campaign looming, and there’s danger in it for them as a party, but they just can’t let go of the nuts.