A Call to Republicans....Get Yer Nuts Out!

Early in this 2010 mid-term election season there is a certain timidity being demonstrated by the normally outspoken publicity junkies from both parties.

In the spring it appeared the talking points and strategy of Republican campaigns would be following the frenzied Tea Party screed of "Taking Our Country Back ", "Socialism", "Health Care Repeal", "Show me your papers!", "Show me your birth certificate!", etc., etc., ad nauseum. I welcomed this swing to the far right. It's a call to arms that clearly doesn't represent popular opinion and will likely result in a rejection of the just-say-no'ers. The outcome may well be a status quo in the House and Senate.

Then everything went kind of quiet. Websites were launched to take the pulse of issues, that "we the people" care about, and lo and behold, "most Americans" don't give a shit about the paranoia of the fringe right. By the way, are we tired of the phrase "most Americans" yet? 

Republican leaders Boehner and McConnell, who represent decades of supporting one unbalanced budget after another, are now trying to win the support of deficit-hating, taxed enough already, tea partier crowd. It's a high-wire act for both sides with no safety net. There does not seem to be a middle ground for Republicans and so the party tears itself to pieces.

After the recent calm, in the absence of a cohesive Republican message, all media attention has turned back to coverage of the fringe right mouthpieces and candidates. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Tom Tancredo, Sharron Angle and Andrew Breitbart have the spotlight. Incumbent Republicans are quietly laying back in the shadows waiting for a White House stumble rather than jumping on the nut wagon.

The White House stumble really hasn't materialized. The Oil Spill, while dreadful and a failure of federal regulators at MMS, is difficult to pin to Obama. The false accusations of reverse racism by Shirley Sherrod have turned in to a coup for the White House. The Obama agenda has been moving right along and picking up steam. Like it or don't they're getting the job done.

Democrats who were recently resigning themselves to a conservative backlash effect, reminiscent of Newt Gingrich's mid-90's "Contract On America", have started to lift up their heads and look around. The scenery doesn't seem so bad after all.

I think we'll see a lot more incumbents lining up with the president in the months to come. If the unemployment numbers continue to fall and Democrats are able to pull together a unified front, there's a chance of not just maintaining seats but also making important gains in what have historically been Republican territory.

Don't believe the polls, the pundits or Sean Hannity. Hyperbolic rhetoric does not win elections. Fear-mongering is just not as effective anymore. More and more, informed Americans can see through the bullshit and are steering clear of the nuts.