In a Pivotal Year, GOP Plans to Get Personal: Millions to Go to Digging Up Dirt on Democrats
Republicans are planning to spend the vast majority of their sizable financial war chest over the final 60 days of the campaign attacking Democratic House and Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies, GOP officials said. The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads.
In case you missed my lead-in, let me just run the particulars by you again: Republicans are planning to spend the vast majority of their sizable financial war chest over the final 60 days of the campaign attacking Democratic House and Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies, GOP officials said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads.
That’s right; Republicans won’t be talking about issues this fall. They won’t be talking about the economy, the deficit, Social Security, stem cell research, the war in Iraq, or Homeland Security. They’ll be looking for dirt on Democrats. Why? Well, it’s pretty simple, really:
BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING POSITIVE TO RUN ON, that’s why. Forty-five-plus MILLION dollars will be going to finding ammunition for negative ads. Not discussing the importants issues facing the country today. Not the threat of terrorism. Not the war in Iraq. No, they’re spending MILLIONS to find out if Democrat X got a blow job from Susie Maloney in the boy’s locker room in 11th grade.
This is the sort of vapid, moronic, completely devoid of anything resembling substance or meaning campaign that we can expect from Republicans this fall…and it makes me want to puke- because, even with all of this, there are still miilions who will vote Republican. Jeebus, people…WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER, willya??
The hope is that a vigorous effort to “define” opponents, in the parlance of GOP operatives, can help Republicans shift the midterm debate away from Iraq and limit losses this fall. The first round of attacks includes an ad that labeled a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin “Dr. Millionaire” and noted that he has sued 80 patients.
Of course, Republicans know that, while context may be key for some of us, most Americans neither know nor care. Republican propagandists know that a properly-framed argument, regardless of whether it’s true or not, can and will be convincing if repeated often enough and with enough conviction.
“Opposition research is power,” said Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (N.Y.), the NRCC chairman. “Opposition research is the key to defining untested opponents.”
No…it’s the key to smearing untested opponents and creating unfavorable impressions in the minds of voters. Republicans know that they have no chance to win a debate on the issues. They’re also all about winning- winning at any and all costs. If it takes lies, propaganda, and a fabricated sex scandal or two…hey, it’s just the cost of doing business.
Part of me would like to think that Republicans are going to come out and articulate why they are still the better option for this country. I honestly believe that an open and informed debate on the issues would be the best thing for this country. Of course, I know that this sounds as if I’m about to proclaim my belief in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. The reality is that no such debate will be forthcoming, because Republicans know that they will be called to account for the excesses, the bad decisions, and the demagoguery of the past five years. Republicans are in big trouble,
Because challengers tend to be little-known compared with incumbents, they are more vulnerable to having their public image framed by the opposition through attacks and unflattering personal revelations.
And with polls showing the Republicans’ House and Senate majorities in jeopardy, party strategists said they have concluded that their best chance to prevent big Democratic gains is a television and direct-mail blitz over the next eight weeks aimed at raising enough questions about Democratic candidates that voters decide they are unacceptable choices.
If you can paint an opponent as a corrupt, philandering, unstable pedophile with a drinking problem and a predilection for Bolivian marching powder…well, before long no one’s going to care that he’s a far superior candidate. No one will care what he stands for, nor will they want to hear him defend himself against charges fabricated from whole cloth. They’ll have already made up their minds, because NO ONE wants to vote for a corrupt, philandering, unstable pedophile with a drinking problem and a predilection for Bolivian marching powder.
Sorry, y’all…but if you’re planning on voting Republican this fall, you might want to remove your anterior from your posterior and try acatually thinking about what you’re about to do. Of course, voting Republican IS easier than thinking, eh?
