In 1814 the Federalist Party convened in Hartford, Connecticut to make a grand power play to retake the White House.  The Jeffersonian-Republicans had drawn the young United States into a second war with Britain that half of the American people opposed.  The Federalists smelled blood as an unpopular and badly managed war yielded few victories and many embarrassments.  “Mr. Madison’s War” seemed to be a perfect opportunity for the Federalists to do considerable political damage and regain power.  They were going to use American defeat as this path to power.  The Hartford Convention declared the war a disaster; we might even say a “quagmire”.  The convention openly discussed secession, and eventually told the people of the United States that huge changes must be made to the Constitution to restrict Presidential power, including a one term limit on the Presidency.  Most of the changes were designed to reinforce the Federalist power base in New England in the face of expansion that was adding new states of “lesser people” into the Union, but opposition to the war was the political tool that the Federalists were to yield against the Jeffersonians.  

            The only problem was that they had not considered that the war could end and the United States would save face, even declare victory, before the Federalists could embarrass their own country into handing power back to its rightful masters.  Immediately after the Hartford Convention’s declaration of defeat, news that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed reached the country and the Federalists looked like complete idiots, even traitors.  The treaty was essentially a draw, but the U.S. was able to reasonably declare victory and the nation blushed with patriotism having resisted the greatest military in the world yet again.  The Federalists began to tear themselves apart and by 1820 were only a memory.

            Sound familiar?  It should.  Leaving politics “at the waters edge” is not advice for patriotism and unity; it is advice for political viability, relevance, and survival.  The Democrat Party now finds itself treading in very cold water.  They have bet their own survival on American defeat.  And there is no guarantee that defeat will enamor the country to those that “told you so”, especially in the long term (see Jimmy Carter).  Down the road this could be seen as idiocy, maybe even treasonous.  It is certainly “Russian Roulette” political strategy.  I would not take advice from the Democrat betting hotline, I am not sure that they will cover the spread.