A Bad Sign for Democrats

The Washington Post has reported that Democrats are digging deep for any dirt they can find on Republicans in close races. Although opposition research isn't unusual in today's political environment, there is an element of this year's opposition research that doesn't bode well for the Left.

Keep in mind that traditionally the party in the White House loses seats in Congress in midterm elections. It doesn't always happen (see 2002), but the trend is well-known. If this trend continues, the Democrats are looking at losing power in Congress; the question is how much. That puts the Left behind the eight ball from the outset.

Add to this the growing discontent with all politicians, not just the ones in power. Some have argued that the TEA Party movement wouldn't have emerged had it not been for President Obama's election, but I would argue that it would have emerged anyway because our elected officials have become embarrassingly out-of-touch and increasingly arrogant. The same TEA Party folks that have criticized Obama have criticized John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and other more moderate Republicans for the same reasons oftentimes.

But instead of trying to tap into the more independent voting bloc, the Democrats have gone back to the tried and true scandal well.

Democrat leaders just don't get it. We aren't going to fall for that sort of gamesmanship this time around. Just because a Republican got a special tax break doesn't negate the special breaks Christopher Dodd got thanks to Countrywide. A Republican who has unpaid state taxes doesn't make Charlie Rangel's federal tax evasion go away. All it does is show how Democrats are trying to change the subject in an attempt to avoid an electoral drubbing in November.

And that signals a very weak party.