BRAND THEM

This is from Taegan Goddard:

Last month, Charlie Cook wrote that "Republican" was a damaged brand. Writing for Congress Daily last week, he supplies the data.

Analyzing Gallup survey results on party identification, Cook notes the percentage of Americans calling themselves Democrats increased by 5.8 points, "from a GOP lead of 1.9 points to a deficit of 3.9 points. It's not that Democrats grew that much; it's that Republicans dropped, with the independent column picking up much of the slack."

"But the real jaw dropper is when independents are asked which party they lean toward. This is important because historically, independents who lean toward a party tend to vote almost as consistently for that party as those who identify themselves with the party. There are just some people who like to call themselves independents but, functionally speaking, are really partisans."

"This category exploded to a 10.2-point advantage for Democrats: 50.4 percent for Democrats, 40.2 percent for Republicans."

So here's my question: Why aren't Democrats who are running for president using the word "Republican" every chance they get in reference to their potential opponents -- particularly the ones (McCain, Giuliani, Romney) who seem to have crossover appeal? Why aren't they saying things like "the GOP policies of Republican Rudy Giuliani," just to hammer home the point that this guy is one of them? Why, in other words, aren't they using the word "Republican" the way Republicans have long used the word "liberal"?