Somehow I've ended up on the RNC email list and I now receive up to several emails a day from Reince N Company. Sometimes they are messages from the Chairman himself, other times they have come from such heavy hitters as Marco Rubio, John McCain, and Sharon Day (whoever that is).
Today's message comes from RNC Finance Director Katie Walsh.
Katie says:
"The Democrats are getting desperate. They’re pulling every trick, scheme and stunt to try to defeat our Republican Majority in the House and block us from gaining a Republican Majority in the Senate.
These Washington Democrats are launching the same smear and scare campaigns that got Obama elected in the first place.
They have even gone so far as to create “phony scandals,” tell flat out lies, and sensationalize and spin anything that they think can make them money."
...and then she asks for money to counter this obvious assault on decency.
To be fair to Katie, the Democrats may be feeling a little desperate right now, we have little chance of taking the house, and a tough fight to hold the Senate. As for tricks, schemes and stunts, I'm really not aware of any coming from the Democratic side.
I think it is common in politics, when you don't know what your opponent is up to, to assume they are engaging in the same tactics that you are. Under this assumption, Katie's comments do make some sense.
For example, one needs to look no further than the RNC itself to learn of a political party which is setting up fake news sites smearing Democratic house candidates, and promoting them using Google Search ads.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
That could be a trick, a scheme or a stunt (I'm not sure what the distinction is).
Katie then refers to smear and scare campaigns that got Obama elected. Now these specific campaigns she refers to I am not aware of, but I do recall another political party, the Republican Party specifically, trying to scare people about the Affordable Care Act in 2012, which has since helped millions access health insurance, but which the 2012 Republican Party Platform called "an attack on our Constitution!". I could see how she might think others, such as the Democrats, might resort to such tactics.
The last straw for me was the "phony scandal". I have been trying as hard as I can to remember the last one that was promoted by the Democratic party. Now to be fair, they have taken advantage of some pretty stupid comments by Republican office holders and candidates (legitimate rape, cantaloupe sized calves, etc...), but these were not really scandals, just sample idiots. No, much better examples of a phony scandals have been promoted by the Republican Party. Benghazi! IRS! Stealing from Medicare! That must be what Katie was thinking of, and it made her think:
"The Democrats must be doing it too!"