PROJECTING FAILURE

The latest meme by the administration, which has officially hit the echo chamber that is the neo-pravda media, is an attempt to paint the tea party and conservatives as 'radicals'.  I'll give you a minute to stop laughing....

Yes, the administration that brought us communist Van Jones, Mao lover Anita Dunn, Ecoscience author John Holdren, and 'fisting' fan/NAMBLA supporter Kevin Jennings are pointing the finger of radicalism at the tea parties. 

It's called 'projection'.

I honestly never thought I would see the day when groups of americans gathering together to show their love and support for their country and demand a return to the observance of our founding documents would be called radical, while those who support marxist ideals, the welfare state and global governance are being portrayed as mainstream.  They assert that the call to "Take our country back" is some sort of attempt at a radical overthrow of the administration.  They miss the point entirely.  It is about taking our country back to it's constitutional roots; taking it back to the system that made it great, before it was perverted by the welfare state and yes, to a certain extent, taking it back from the career politicians on both sides of the aisle that have exploited and perverted the system. 

This latest attempt to control and distort the debate is about as transparent as saran wrap.  They cannot run on Obamacare.  they cannot run on the so-called 'recovery summer'.  They cannot run on any of their legislative wins, because of how unpopular they are.  All that is left is demonization of their favorite target, the tea party.  They are preaching to the choir on this one, attempting to motivate their base. Unfortunately, their base seems rather lethargic.  Instead, what they are doing is motivating the so-called radicals they are busy slandering. 

When in heaven's name did it become sound political strategy to demonize a large portion of the voting public?  How can this possibly work in their favor?  Not only did they misread their mandate in 2008, but now they are miscounting their base.  They seem to think that the 53% that Obama won by in 2008 is their new base.  In reality, only about 20% of americans consider themselves democrat/liberal/progressive.  About 40% self identify as conservative/republican, with 36% being fluid, identifying with neither party. 

There is a good chance that they will succeed in stimulating their base with all of the radical rhetoric they are spewing, but this level of discourse has traditionally been rather off-putting for moderates.  This is why most campaigns wait until the final weeks to sling mud.  This election season, there has been no attempt to debate the issues; mud slinging has gone from being the last-ditch 'nuclear option' to the only option for endangered democrats.  While this new tactic might just motivate their base, the demonization merely strengthens the resolve of conservatives to get out and vote.  This will backfire on them, simply because conservatives outnumber liberals by a 2-1 margin.  Add in the disillusioned moderates and the moderates who were on the fence but have been turned off by the negativity, and it's not a pretty picture for democrats.

Bottom line: is it really worth rallying 20% when it also means you will be alienating and energizing somewhere in the neighborhood of 60+% in opposition?  I'm no politician, but the logic seems a little...off. 

But, then again, this administration isn't really known for it's math skills.

PROJECTING FAILURE