It's all they have left

[longship]

We're two weeks from the most important election in my lifetime and things are turning downright ugly. All the October surprises have hit the Repugs hard. The Foley scandal, Iraq going south, mis-speaking on the capaign trail, and a variety of other problems are taking their toll on our opposition. But it's the environment into which these events are placed which is important. The big issue polls--all of them--have the Democrats on top. The Repukes have even had to surrender the national security issue. The Repugs have nothing left to run on--they have now even abandoned their previously stallwart stay the course. So what does a party do when they've painted themselves into a political corner? That's right. It's time for personal attacks.

Hillary is ugly. Michael J. Fox is faking his Parkinson's disease. Ford has had sex with Playboy Bunnies. And so it goes. The Repukes literally have nothing left to use against the Democrats. I suspect that we're going to see more of this until November 7th. It's amazing, but I am surprised that at a time when the entire electorate seems to be aligned against the scandals, the do-nothing Congress, and the smears, that the Repugs would think that this would work.

This makes me all the more optimistic about this election. Either intentional or not, the Democrats have done a masterful job of putting themselves on top on every single issue. Chairman Governor Doctor Dean's plan to put Democrat opposition in all fifty states may prove to be the most prescient action in political history. It is going to pay back in spades in two weeks. In January, Democrats are likely going to hold Congressional seats they've not held in decades.

So what do Democrats have to do about this? Let the Repukes make their personal attacks and hit them back hard on the issues. It really doesn't matter what issues since Dems basically own them all now. In the meantime, us activists have a lot more work to do. A two week blitz of donations and volunteering can bring the whole thing home on election day. GOTV is crucial this time, since it will pretty much insure more votes in the Democratic column.

Let's get busy. Let's hit them while they're down. Let's make sure that we don't get caught again. The Repukes are desparate. Painted into a political corner, they have nothing left but their dirty tricks and personal attacks, neither of which is going to activate their loyal base.

[Hav]

1. .

More importantly, they can't effectively run on the things they achieved. They can't point to all the great things that they have done the last 6 years while they had the power to do everything they liked.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Loony Liberal just wasn't cutting it anymore!

Frankly, the majority of Cons that I know have always cared much more about looks over substance. They wing it most of the time, then point the finger of blame on someone else when they get called on the carpet.

[Odin2005]

3. The Pukes can't disengage from the culture wars.

Thier whole electoral strategy for the last 20 years (besides going "terrah, terrah, terrah" the last 4 years) has been built around milking the culture wars for all thier worth. Now that people are starting to be concered about more important issues then the culture wars the Pukes are "trapped on a hungry tiger they dare not dismount," to use a famous Churchill quote. My knowlwdge of cyclical trends in US history tells me that the 2008 elections will be equivalent to the 1932 elections, the Pukes will be out of power for a generation. I remember seeing a NY Times chart showing that my generation, people who turned 18 after 1999, are the most Democratic-leaning generation since the GI generation (the folks who turned 18 between 1925 and 1943).