I was just listening to a snippet of Rush Limbaugh (really, I only listen immediately before and after elections for entertainment value) when I heard something that brought joy to my heart: a nasty anti-Obama 527 ad about abortion, followed by a nasty Scott Garrett ad attacking Democrat Dennis Shulman. Why the smile? Read over the fold:
The ads brought to mind a recollection from 1984. I was working as a volunteer for Walter Mondale in NYC. I wasn't much thrilled with Mondale, and had worked for two other campaigns during the primary season. I was pretty convinced Reagan was unbeatable, especially by a candidate who's message was largely "you were wrong to vote for him last time, let's turn the clock back."
Anyway, one day in October I was helping out with a rally truck that was driving around town to turn out Democratic voters, and which featured appearances by Mayor Koch (yes, he supported Democrats in those days). We hit the Upper East Side, Lower East Side, Downtown Brooklyn, etc. playing music, making speeches, all the usual rallying efforts.
Well, you know the result. A landslide vote count and 49 states (NY included) went for Reagan.
Thinking back on that day, sometime later, something occured to me that hadn't registered during the campaign: If Mondale had to make an effort in October to rally voters in the most liberal neighborhoods of the most liberal city in America, then the campaign was on such bad footing that it was never going to succeed.
Which brings me back to Rush. If the "dittoheads" and even the hangers-on who listen to Rush Limbaugh are considered to be so at risk of voting for Obama or Democratic Candidates that Republican campaigns feel the need to spend their dwindling dollars advertising on Rush's show the day before the election, the campaign managers who are looking at the vote projections probably aren't getting a good night's sleep.
I'm look forward to tomorrow.