We’ve been hearing for quite some time now that the stupendous haymaker awaiting the Democrats next week has nothing to do with amply justified outrage over their policies, tactics, and sneering unconcern for public opinion and the consent of the governed, but is simply the unfortunate result of how difficult it has been for them to get their “message” out to what Katie Couric recently called America’s “great unwashed middle”.
Mr. Obama has patiently explained to us that he and his selfless subordinates have been “more concerned with getting the policy right than getting the politics right”. He has patted us kindly on the head, reassuring us that of course he understands that simple folks like us get really scared when bad things happen, and that when we do, it’s just too hard for us to comprehend all those terribly difficult things — “facts” and “reason” and all that other other grown-up stuff — that He and the rest of the Good Guys have had to carry in their heads while they’ve been implementing enlightened reforms and improvements on our behalf.
James Taranto summed it all up nicely in today’s newsletter:
The Democrats’ message, in short, is that the Democrats are really lousy at delivering a convincing message. Since nobody finds this message convincing, it has a certain surface plausibility. But “We’re really lousy at delivering a message” is a lousy message–so the problem actually is one of substance, not delivery.
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How stupendous do you think the haymaker will actually be? I’m betting it’s over-hyped. The Dems are likely in for a voter rebuke, but it won’t be nearly as severe as some are anticipating.
Well, we’ll see. It isn’t going to tickle.
There’s good reason to believe that the more egregiously unqualified Republicans (and there’s a pretty low bar there) are starting to vaporize:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/27/AR2010102707428.html?hpid=topnews
The best line was from Jack Conway, after the Rand Paul supported stomped on the head of a moveon.org activist: “These people wear shirts that say ‘Don’t Tread on Me.’ Looks like they got it backwards.”