The Dems HAVE TO pay attention to this . . . Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger had a great column in yesterday's LA Times; it's actually a preview of their new book, One Party Country (Wiley). Check it out at:
http://www.latimes.com/...
Here's what jumps out at me, and scares the bejeezers out of me . . . Wallsten and Hamburger write,
" . . . The fact is that over two or three decades, the GOP has painstakingly built up a series of structural advantages that make the party increasingly difficult to beat. And in the last five years, it has strengthened its hold under President Bush and his political guru, Karl Rove..."
They use the Bilbray-Busby contest as an example of how the Republicans can pull victory from the jaws of defeat, partially thru the use of their far superior database operation:
" . . . The new-and-improved GOP database helped Republicans begin to peel away select pieces of the old Democratic base, such as politically conservative and pro-Israel Jews, as well as socially conservative blacks, Latinos and blue-collar workers. In Cleveland, Republicans in 2004 compiled a list of Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants who they knew backed Bush's stance against Islamic terrorism, then organized a rally entirely in Russian on the Sunday before the election. . . . "
It's a powerful warning that Dems need to hear!!!