2008 - Marching to the beat of the same drummer...

Yep, that's back to the future, if we don't do something about it now.

Based on recent experience, it's already TOO LATE TO ANTICIPATE KARL'S MOVES FOR 2006. Whether you want to talk about get-out-the-vote efforts, the swift-boats lies, making hay out of the false issue of gay marriage (ask me if I think gay-rights groups received funding from the republicans [yes, I do]) - all democratic efforts fell short of Republican strategies in 2004. Karl and the GOP were there first with the most and becauase they were first, they HAD data and field reports and knew where to direct late-inning efforts and what to ignore.

That's why I say its too late for 2006. They're already there. So, if you're worrying about some mid-term race or issues - forget it. They have identified the issues that make sense to them, identified strategies for targeted races and assigned the resoources already. So, it's TOO LATE. Get over 2006 now!

If you can agree with this, then you could also be persuaded that it's probably too late to anticipate what he has emphasized as targets, talking points, campaigns and lies for 2008 as well. If that doesn't scare you, you're on Neurontin.

If you ARE scared, then you might be persuaded that NOW is the time to start asking what you can do NOW to hinder, combat, diffuse, frustrate and respond to his efforts. BUT - and this is a BIG but - responding is a LOSING STRATEGY! What Democrats need to do now - RIGHT NOW - is ATTACK! The more the merrier, the weirder the better. GET THIS - the substance does not matter! The truth does not matter AS LONG AS it is someone else who gets caught in the lie! So, what is the message? Identify, recruit and start the funding of surrogates - like the Swifties - who will be able to do our dirty-work for us while we keep our heads above the fray. I MEAN IT!

The DNC seemed to spend the entire 2004 campaign either on the defensive or - when on the offense - attacking issues that in the end DID NOT MATTER TO VOTERS! Iraq? So what? You CAN NOT ATTACK A SITTING PRESIDENT'S WAR POLICY without looking like like the DIS-LOYAL opposition. The Economy? You can't attack that successfully or succinctly if the economic condition is TIED-IN to the WAR POLICY! The environment? NOBODY WHO'S VOTE YOU ARE TRYING TO INFLUENCE IS GOING TO VOTE THE ENVIRONMENT!!! IT'S A SECONDARY ISSUE!

1. GET THE GOODS ON JEB! Is he squeaky clean? Probably not. Start digging! We'll find something. It may not have any substance, but lower your standards of evidence to Karl's and you'll be hit paydirt for sure. In fact forget evidence - all we're really looking for is sustainable innuendo. Remember, Karl managed to manipulate the campaign such that a MULTIPLY DECORATED COMBAT VETERAN took more hits than a DRAFT DODGER! Come on dems! No more Mr. Nice Guy, okay? It isn't about TRUTH or what ACTUALLY MATTERS - it's about what will either keep people at home on election day or bring them out for us. So, if Jeb Bush - Mr. I've-got-hispanic-credentials-cuz-I-married-one - also has an undocumented housekeeper, AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW THAT! Did he help fiddle the election roles or polling places in florida. Spend some DNC money NOW on lawyers and investigators and let's get at it. Oh - and if you believe that Jeb ain't running in ought 8, that you must have missed his campaign junket to Indonesia. He wasn't there because he knows something about bad weather. He was there because he knows something about needing to have some foreign footage in his arsenal for 2008.
2. IRAQ! We can't play this card now, but we can certainly be ready so that by 2006/7, if things ARE a bit different - even if it's all over over there by then - then we can be ready to ask for a reckoning. WHY, WHY, WHY? - for example. Or, "Are you better off today"? Again, a good, powerful question.
3. The Environment - YES, I KNOW I said nobody cares. But, that's now. Anticipate a couple more years of oil giveaways, wilderness road-building, tree cutting, salmon-killing, dirtier air and filthier water and it might...just... become... an ISSUE. So, again, NOW is the time to get the goods on the deals, the dealmakers and the consequences. the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION act is our friend! Let's buy it a drink and throw some bucks at some more lawyers and investigators. The dirt is there and getting piled higher and deeper by the minute. Let's get out the shovels.