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Hunter's piece got me thinking about something that has been kicking around my head for a while. I've already posted to my usual sandbox, but I thought I'd cross-post to see if anyone has any thoughts.]
Since the Clinton "third way" has been the model claimed by so many smarter-than-you DLC centrists when explaining to liberals how elections get one, I'm surprised there hasn't been made more of one particular episode, but the first year after Republicans won the Congress in 1994, Clinton and the Democrats were very effective at linking (a) Republican tax cuts to (b) Republican spending cuts, especially in Medicare. They were helped by the (probably coincidental) fact that the size of the cuts to both entitlement programs and income taxes were roughly the same, but the Dems' media campaign was very aggressive in establishing the link in the public mind. (If you recall different things about that election, Google fortunately has about 14,000 reminders of what I'm talking about.)
The stage seems set for a similar dynamic to play off this year, too---[more below the fold]
The stage seems set for a similar dynamic to play off this year, too---irresponsible choices heavily identified with the Republican party, and especially with an unpopular national Republican leader, are necessitating painful spending cuts in programs people don't want to see cut. I'm really surprised Democrats aren't playing up the issue.
I hesitate to play armchair campaign strategist, but there is absolutely no reason the DNC, DSCC and D-trip shouldn't be running commercials in every marginal Republican's district or state saying:
Congressman / Senator X voted for the Iraq war [image: "$200 billion"]; he voted to cut the estate tax for billionaires ["$300 billion over Y years"]; he voted for President Bush's giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry ["$500 billion over Z years"]. Now, with deficits bigger than ever in history ["Trillions"], Congressman X and the Republicans are making up the difference by cutting children's education, seniors' health care, student loans, and help to our nation's farmers. So much money wasted by George W. Bush, and Congressman X is coming to us to make up the difference. It's the wrong direction for America, and it's time to turn back. Paid for / authorized by yada yada yada.
Obviously that's not the actual ideal of a killer ad, but it's the easiest way I have to demonstrate my point. Democrats have a lot of advantages right now: all the biggest snafus are the other guy's fault; Republican leaders have very low personal approval ratings; and Democratic positions are more popular for voters' selfish reasons; but what's more more, Democratic positions are actually more sensible for selfless reasons, too. Democratic issues make more sense, and they make more sense to voters. Getting aggressive about sharpening the contrast between the parties can nationalize next year's election, which spells Dem gains. Budget issues are, curiously enough, a good avenue to do that. Count this as one vote for Reid and Pelosi deciding to do that.