Responding to an NPR poll that shows a generic Democrat soundly thrashing a generic Republican for president, Atrios writes:

I'm not a super smart political strategist, but if I were looking at data which told me that Generic Democrat was kicking ass by 18 points, and Real Live Democrats were not, it might occur to me that the way to win an election was to stop the triangulation bullshit and start running as a proud Democrat.

But, hey, I'm just some lunatic on the internets.

Do I even have to explain what's wrong with this line of reasoning? The campaign by GOP operatives to put any Real Live Democrat with the potential to become president under a cloud of suspicion is relentless. Generic Democrat is regularly subjected to character attacks, but what happens to Real Live Democrats who have the nerve to run for president is all-out war, which doesn't stop until GOP press releases and mainstream punditry are indistinguishable and it's clear to at least 51% of the public that the Real Live Democrat is a dangerous freak whose ascension to the presidency would threaten civilization itself.

See: Gore, Al; Kerry, John; Dean, Howard.

Also see Rush Limbaugh's current attacks on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in which he's practically duetting with Maureen Dowd.


If he's so sensitive about his ears, imagine how his tent will fold when he gets deep into a campaign. Wait 'til Hillary pulls out the testicle lockbox for him in the middle of a campaign, wait 'til Hillary Clinton really gets down and dirty and the guns start blazing, what's this guy going to do? We may have discovered an Achilles' heel. He's not tough enough for this.


She's just so tightly wound that she appears fake. So what do they want her to do? Dance? Smile? Tell jokes? Wear low-cut dresses? Hell, wear dresses! They want her to act human? They want her to take a position on something? They want her to cry? This woman cannot hold a press conference unless it's totally planned and scripted to protect her. She hasn't been asked any tough questions about anything from anybody in six years.

One is too soft. One is too hard. It's as if he's calling them "Obambi" and "Hillzilla." Oh, wait -- Dowd already did.