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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2006-10-12

Do Not--I Repeat, DO NOT--Relax

My friend and blogfather Hugh Hewitt (and when I say "friend", I mean I've had dinner with him twice in large groups) posits the idea today that the tide has turned, and the Democrats have reached their high water mark.

Far be it from me to dispute the wisdom of HH, but . . . I think he's wrong.

I think Hugh is vastly underestimating the Democrats' capacity for dirty tricks. The DUI story hit the weekend before the election; I don't remember what the late trick in 2002 was; the Rather thing was what? 10 days before the election.

I don't think the Foley thing is by any stretch of the imagination the last thing Dems are gonna hit with. And, given the way the GOP has handled the Foley thing, I'm pretty sure that we can manage to screw up the next thing, too.

I honestly believe the GOP got lucky in 2002--that was shaping up as a close race, and was looking like the Dems had a decent shot at big wins, and then there was the Wellstone Memorial. The Dems were just dumb enough to start celebrating their wins too early, and the complete distastefullness of their efforts probably cost them control of the Senate. Which, for all I know, probably cost them the White House in 2004.

Now, as I've said all along, the one biggest thing the GOP has working in its favor is the fact that their opponents are the Democrats. And the Democrats have a nearly limitless ability to "miss an opportunity." So, there's still the hope that the Dems will help the GOP.

But I doubt it. And even if they did, it's not like the media is going to seriously report on it.

And if you have any doubt about that last point, just read Michael Barone from yesterday (courtesy RCP).

And for that matter [okay, now I'm kind of ranting]. . .

What the hell is wrong with the GOP? Are they really as naive as they seem to be?

I think the smart people really thought that all that needed to happen was for the economy to continue its strong performance, and then everything would be okay.

They forgot to account for the fact that getting that news out to the public would actually, you know, require some effort on their part. Which so far . . . HAS NOT HAPPENED!

So the MSM is not only whole-heartedly trying to shoot down the Iraq effort, its done everything in its power to bury the good news about the economy, its done its level best to turn Mark Foley into the biggest story since the moon landing . . .

but somehow Hugh thinks the GOP has a chance to rebound in the next four weeks.

Color me skeptical.
Posted by: Michael / 10/12/2006 12:37:00 AM

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