Can you imagine what the McCain campaign would be doing with the story if Michelle Obama turned out to be a former member of a separatist group dedicated, say, to establishing an Africans-only colony in the South? They would bombard Obama with ads and speeches about how his "traitor" wife made him unfit to be president. So why in hell aren't the Democrats making political hay with this? Don't they realize they are in a political knife fight? Where is their ad showing Palin telling the AIP what a wonderful job it's doing? Come to think of it, where is their ad showing that former Vietnam POW talking about McCain's terrible temper?

Barack? Joe? Somebody? Where's the fight? Where's the killer instinct? What's with playing defense and fucking around defending a lipstick comment? Don't you guys realize you're about to become John Kerry circa 2004?

That's how long I give Obama/Biden to come out swinging with force, fire and creativity on issues like this and others--not just playing defense and being reactive, but playing offense and defining their opponents. If they can't get themselves moving by then, they're going to lose a huge portion of their base, who will become discouraged as they see another John Kerry/passive/clueless/tin ear debacle developing.

Two weeks, guys. Better suck it up, start savaging Palin's record and inexperience, going after McCain as a loose cannon, a hypocrite and a Bush lackey, and making your own bold statements about solving problems for people, or you're screwed.

We should be working with Democracy for America to turn THIS into a killer ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

This is lovely, but Democrats, STOP PLAYING DEFENSE! Instead of reacting to the shit the GOP slings, come out fighting and define the battle. Define McCain and Georgia Bush in the eyes of the voters: the waffling old man with the out-of-control temper and the anti-science wacko with no experience and a power-mad streak. Come out with knives and guns and take the fight to them and rip their throats out. It has indeed come to this if we ever hope to take our nation back.

You think the voters are going to give a rat's hindquarters about the nuance behind the Bridge to Nowhere. Let's get this one down right now, Democrats: If you have to start an election statement with the word "Technically..." then it's a loser. Stop talking. Regroup.

Simple. Powerful. Candid. Gutsy. Factual. Centered on the issues Americans care about—the war, the economy, healthcare. No one cares about the Bridge to Nowhere...which is precisely where Obama's campaign will end up if the Dems don't knock off the hair splitting and get to some haymakers.

...to the poster who said that Democrats aren't very good at playing defense, that's beside the point. Being defensive is a sure way to guarantee a victory for your opponents in anything, whether it's football or politics. When you "play not to lose," you lose.

The only way the Dems make it happen is to launch a multi-point strategy of sharp, smart ads and blistering public appearances: Obama talking with vision and candor about issues and solving specific problems that struggling Americans want and need to hear about, Biden going into attack dog mode to take down both McCain and Palin, surrogates like Hillary hitting on emotional talking points like "Bush's Third Term" and "If McCain dies in the White House, do we really want Sarah Palin as president?", and finally, a series of great TV spots that strike hard at the lies and misrepresentations and corruption of both candidates and link them to the worst president in US history, Shrub.

That's the only way they win this thing: by going on the offensive and attacking from multiple directions at the same time, relentlessly for the next two months, while Obama hopefully cleans McCain's clock in the debates. They've got to be aggressive and set the agenda and they have to appeal to the emotions, since people make their decisions based on emotion, not intellect.

The Democrats choose candidates whom they believe will be good at governing. The Republicans choose candidates whom they believe will be good at winning elections, governance after the election be damned. That's how we got Dubya. That's how we got Obama, who appears to be wavering and passive, and Biden, who's vanished. And that's how we got McCain and Palin, who are archtypes: the War Hero and the Plucky Underdog Mom. Archetypes win elections when the electorate is too small-minded to vote for anything else. The GOP knows this, which is why they're great at winning elections and piss-poor at governing.