(This is my first diary, so please, go easy on me...)
Something Thom Hartmann pointed out on his radio program last week got me to thinking. The topic was the ACORN "scandal" (which I will always put in quotes because any objective analysis will conclude that there is no scandal there). Hartmann quoted Rush Limbaugh as saying "They're planning to steal the election". To Hartmann, the ACORN "scandal" looked like an excuse for Republicans to complain that Obama stole the election for the next four years.
As I listened, something clicked.
I have been wondering -- why would the Palin/McCain campaign continue these vicious attacks on Obama, when every indication is that they're not working? Since the smears began, not only has the bleeding not stopped for McCain, but Obama's lead has increased. It's more than clear that the general electorate isn't interested in the attacks and smears. It's not improving McCain's numbers. So why continue?
I think it may be because the GOP know it's hopeless. They know they're going to lose. So they've decided to play the long game. This is no longer about 2008. It's about 2010, and 2012. The GOP are laying the groundwork for a backlash against Obama.
The plan goes something like this:
Step 1 -- Make sure your base is seething with anger about losing this election. Make sure they hate Obama. You want them to say things like "Obama will never be my president." (Never mind that these were the same people that insisted that we show GWB the respect he "deserved", because he was "our" commander-in-chief too.)
Step 2 -- Plant a seed of doubt about the legitimacy of the election. The ACORN "scandal" will fit the bill. Never mind that there's no "there" there if you look close enough. You can count on the MSM not to.
Step 3 -- Get the Limbaugh's and Hannity's of the media world started on a two-year fake outrage campaign against the Obama administration. Every time Obama accomplishes something "liberal", they will rant about how he's "destroying the country", and mention that he probably stole the election.
Step 4 -- Use your loud angry base as a springboard to take back Congress in 2010.
Remember -- Something like this worked for the GOP in 1994! Gingrich and his talk-radio allies were able to take resentment toward the Clinton presidency and turn it into a white male rage that took enough friends and relatives with them to the polls to hand the Republicans both houses of Congress.
There are two things that are different this time. Clinton was elected by a plurality. Obama is looking at a clear popular vote majority, and possibly an electoral landslide. The population of Obama-resenters is not as big as the number of people who were pissed about Clinton.
The other thing that's different is that this time, we'll be ready for them. This is not 1994, when the Democrats were blindslided by Gingrich's "angry white males". We're very experienced in exposing the lies of the right. This time, they won't go unanswered.
The campaign doesn't end on November 4th. In fact, it never ends.
------RM