A Message Lost

Here we are three-plus weeks out from an important mid-term election and where do we stand?

Polls show that a severe ass-kicking is in the offing for the GOP with the probable loss of the House and possible loss of the Senate. I maintain that neither will happen, but let's look at how the donks have got to this point:

The MSM Effect: Major media outlets have shown their strength this cycle by picking up on stories such as the Foley issue and pounding it daily. I would bet if you asked the average American who Congressman Foley is they would most-likely not know. But mention that Foley is the one who quit because of the page scandal, they'll remember and think that he had sex with underage boys--even though that didn't happen. Big media like the NY Times has ensured that even though Foley did not have any physical contact with young pages, the country will think he did.

A New Issue Every Day: The WaPo and aformentioned Times must have been holding stories waiting for this precise time period. The daily barrage of stories such as the Rep. Jim Kolbe story released yesterday about hisgoing on a camping trip with pages ten-years ago is beating down the Republicans. Even though there's absolutely zero reason to believe that anything untoward happened on that trip, MSNBC chose to run with it. The Woodward book, Ney, etc. They've done this while largely ignoring the Harry Reid scandal, which seems to be much worse than anything Republicans are accused of.

The GOP Message is Lost: The GOP should be crowing on a daily basis about the state of things. The economy is rolling, unemployment is in the mid-fours, the Dow is hitting records every day and the country has not been attacked again. GOP leadership is constantly in defensive mode, forced to be reactive instead of pro-active. The constant barrage of bad news is overwhelming and makes our message look desperate because we are always saying it from a defensive position.

Ugly Politics: Political campaigns have always been nasty affairs going back to the 18th century. The current election cycle has been far nastier than those previous because the donks have been on the losing end for so long they've dropped any pretense of morality and fairness. They are threatening to "out" closeted homosexuals to embarrass conservative candidates in a concerted effort that seems as though it were approved by donk leadership. It started with Edwards "outing" Dick Cheney's daughter during one of their debates and this is the next logical step to them. They are playing to what they perceive as not on the religious right's biases but what they know are the nation's biases. Shady business to be sure.

Bush's Failures: The President is perceived by those on the political right as leting them down in key areas. he most prominent is the illegal immigration issue. The GOP base wants the problem handled once and for all and the President and congress have continually drug their feet. While those on the right continue to support Bush in the war on terror (which includes Iraq), they have been wavering in support of other key issues. Bush has been out rallying folks more now than ever by giving pressers and numerous speeches in which he's struck a serious and passionate tone. The timing may indeed be too little, too late.

The next two weeks are crucial and no one knows this more than Karl Rove. Is an October surprise in the offing? One would think so. The Democrats October surprise was the Foley revelations, which by some accounts was released too early. With Foley stepping down immediately, the opportunity to milk the scandal for everything was cut short.

The GOP has to make this election about national security and the economy or they will fail dramatically. By making this election about gay congressmen, the Democrats have shown just how unserious they are about the safety of the nation and the war against Islamo-fascism. The time is now for the GOP to highlight this deficiency.