The Republicans appear to be in a ‘throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks’ mode. They have a playbook. But the game has changed. Look at some of today’s headlines:
Life Has Gotten Better in Baghdad – Rod Nordland, Newsweek
Violence in Iraq Continues to Drop – Buckley & Gordon, New York Times
Dems Increasingly “Jumpy” on Illegals – June Kronholz, Wall Street Journal
Nancy Pelosi: Mi Casa, Sue Casa – John Fund, Opinion Journal
How to Beat Hillary Next November – Karl Rove, Newsweek
Will Edwards’ Blow-Dried Populism Sell? – John Heilemann, NY Magazine
Mitt Romney: A CEO in the White House? – Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard
The Democrats’ Iran Dilemma – Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
Chavez and the King – Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
The World is Drinking Al Gore’s Kool-Aid – Phil Valentine, The Tennessean
We can see the outlines of a Republican attack. First, they will argue that things are improving in Iraq. They’ll say this over and over again, hoping that we will not rebut it with equal vigor. And, of course, they are right about that. The Democrats will point out that we are making no progress towards national reconciliation. But they won’t do so with the same level of doggedness.
The Republicans will attack immigrants and try to drive a wedge into the Democratic caucus. They need not try too hard, as the work has already been done.
The internal debate has grown emotional in recent days, boiling over on Friday during a tense encounter on the House floor between Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).
The caucus was upset because some House Democrats had backed a Republican measure protecting employers that impose certain English-only rules– the latest in what Baca called a series of frustrations with the party leadership’s approach to immigration.
“We’re tired of people trying to scapegoat the immigrants or Hispanics as a platform,” Baca said. “Republicans have done it, and Democrats have followed… because they’re afraid they’re going to lose their elections. But we got elected to represent all communities, not to vote based on whether we’re going to get reelected.”
John Fund didn’t miss the opening.
The Republicans will demonize foreign leaders…particularly Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…raising the threat above any facsimile to reality…and then accuse the Democrats of being weak on defense.
The Republicans will attack those that push environmentalism, health care, or anything else that might require greater role for the federal government.
Finally, they’ll go after our candidate personally. John Edwards can’t be a populist because he uses a blow-dryer. Hillary ‘calculates almost everything, including her accent and laugh’. Obama is irritable, and he’s also half a Muslim, or something.
Meanwhile the Republican candidate is a CEO/former mayor, he’s actually run something more than his/her mouth. Or the Republican is a war veteran who knows what it’s like to be tortured…not some fancy-pants trial or civil rights lawyer that has never fired a gun in anger.
The Republican strategy is pretty much out in the open.
