Just twelve weeks away from Election Day, frigid poll numbers for the President and his legion of "W brand" candidates throughout the country have Republicans scrambling for Karl Rove's dog-eared playbook in the hopes of stopping (or at least slowing down) the unprecedented Democratic momentum going into the midterm elections.
Fear-mongering, of course, is Chapter 1 in that book.
This week, we witnessed a vitriolic and coordinated attack on Democrats. Cal Thomas evidenced his need for a straightjacket as he lamented what he calls the "Taliban" wing of the Democratic Party. Bill O'Reilly libeled an entire voting bloc of American citizens when he said that Connecticut voters prove that Americans have "no will to restrain Iran's jihad" . Likewise, Tony Snow insulted Connecticut voters by claiming they chose to "walk away" from fighting terrorists. Dick Cheney implied that Connecticut voters were weak and that Al Qaeda "broke" their will. Meanwhile, Tom DeLay distracted himself from the prospect of prison time this week with fairytales of Democrats who think that terrorists are "wonderful people." Over at the RNC, Republicans sent out a "your money or your life" fundraising email that would have made Tony Soprano proud. And, of course, no propaganda blitz would be complete without the stenographers in the media, like Chuck Roberts of CNN, who mused aloud whether Lamont is an "Al Qaeda Candidate."
The attacks are coming fast, and they're laughably extreme and outrageous. For all the chuckles a sputtering Tom DeLay may bring to our lips ("he didn't say what I think he said, did he?"), it's important to remember that these diatribes against us are spawned by panic--that cold, tickling panic that engulfs you when you realize that time is running out, and you're about to lose. Badly.
The summer is almost over and the Republican Party has failed to turn the tide that rises against it. The environment still favors Democrats so overwhelmingly that (if you haven't noticed) for the first time in a long time, the Republican Party has been forced to play defensive politics.
In turn, the entire conservative punditocracy has morphed into a pack of rabid, snarling dogs, backed into a corner, crouched low and foaming at the mouth. They bark out baseless claims of treason. They're yelping that Democrats are cowards. Their low growls have now turned into drawn-out howls of panic as they realize that time, my friends, is not on their side.
It's the same playbook used in 2002 and 2004, though this year the "Democrats as terrorists" rhetoric is more ferocious than ever, as it is fueled by a no-holds-barred desperation that can only accompany the realization that power is neither guaranteed nor eternal. Will this tactic work in 2006?
Let's talk about it on the flip side...
I've had my qualms with 51% of the electorate, and don't get me started on that stubborn 33% that still supports the President. But I'd wager that a significant portion of voters who watch or read the wild-eyed tirades of panicked conservatives no longer lap in the propaganda. The optimist in me imagines them listening to these ludicrous claims, tilting their heads at their TV, and wondering aloud just what the
hell they're talking about.
This is, after all, 100% Grade A madness.
That Karl Rove, he sure hasn't lost his skills. This is the way to win over voters, you see. Make them forget your previous incompetence by showing them you're downright batshit crazy. What a brilliant plan, indeed.
Previously, when conservatives argued that the only way to prevent a 757 from crashing into your home in Omaha was to vote Republican, too many Americans believed them because they trusted the Republican party. But where's that trust now? Well, Hurricane Katrina eroded that trust. It's being slaughtered day after day in Iraq. And it's shattered every time our shifty-eyed, smug-faced President opens his mouth and promises us progress with all the credibility of a used car salesman.
And now, the GOP expects to win back the trust of the American people with rhetoric so over-the-top and unhinged? Is America (this 2006 America that seems to be waking up from its fear-induced slumber), is it really going to trust a party that peddles in such nonsensical ramblings, one that conflates terrorists and citizens in a single breath? (hint to the GOP: the terrorist is the one with the bombs strapped to his body, the American citizen is the one carrying a voter registration card).
This isn't politics. This isn't political discourse or rational discussion. The Republican Party has nothing logical to say this election season. All it has to offer to the American people are the mad and feverish ramblings of a party that foresees its future irrelevance.
I'm glad that Democrats and some in the traditional media are calling them as they see them. The Philadelphia Daily News, for example, has characterized Cheney's attack on Democrats as borderline "criminal, to say nothing of insane." (h/t Americablog)
"To say nothing of insane." That pretty much sums up the Republican Party's campaigning thus far. And judging from the poll numbers across the nation, it's about to get a whole lot crazier.
Enter the madness, stage right.