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Imaginary Enemies

Who are Democrats running against this year? It’s not the Republicans.

How can Democrats hope to beat Republicans this year? By running against imaginary enemies, which is exactly what they’re doing.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls on America’s generic ballot preference has Republicans up by 6.8 points. The last Gallup poll had Republicans up by 12 to 17 points, depending on turnout. President Obama’s approval numbers are negative, though Americans still like him personally, which indicates that his agenda, not his personality or skin color, is what’s driving voters into the open arms of Republicans.

Democrats can’t run on their record because voters hate it, so they are trying to portray Republicans as pawns of mysterious, sinister forces.

When Obama last week accused the United States Chamber of Commerce of being foreign-funded, he wasn’t just randomly spouting gibberish. He was executing part of a national party strategy to cast doubt on the loyalty of Republicans. Obama’s claim was merely a variation on a theme.

The president warned that “special interest groups that are spending unlimited amounts of money all on attack ads, and they don’t disclose who’s behind them. Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign sources. So the question for the people of Illinois is: Are you going to let special interests from Wall Street and Washington and maybe places beyond our shores come to this state and tell us who our senator should be?”

That ought to sound familiar. Democrats have been saying it for months. Well, for years actually, but they’re saying little else this year. Obama brought up the usual bogeymen — special interests and Wall Street — while adding “maybe places beyond our shores.” That was a strange formulation, but it sounded the same note as the Democrats’ more common “companies that send jobs overseas” phrasing.

That bogeyman is in use nationwide. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has aired an entire ad devoted to attacking North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Harold Johnson by claiming he pledged to keep tax breaks for “companies that outsource jobs overseas.” The DCCC uses the same false claim against Republican candidates in Maryland, Washington state, New York, and Connecticut. It’s also popping up in Democratic and labor-union ads in U.S. Senate races and the Massachusetts’ governor’s race. It’s completely false, as factcheck.org reported last Friday, but desperate politicians make desperate claims.

With its agenda a complete political disaster, peddling falsehoods and tarring Republicans as pawns of “special interests” is all the Democratic Party has left. And the party is doing it with gusto.

“Ron Johnson has made it clear whose side he’s on —corporate special interests, lobbyists and the Wall Street banks that got us into this economic mess,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson last week.

“They want to put special interests back in the driver’s seat in Washington,” President Obama said of Republicans during his Sept. 25th national radio address.

Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen said on Sept. 30 that Democrats should be reelected this fall because they chose “to rein in the power of some of the big corporate special interests who had their sway during the previous eight years.”

Accusing his Republican opponent of supporting millionaires over the middle class, Democratic Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota wrote in an op-ed this week, “We need a more balanced approach that puts middle-class interests over Wall Street special interests.”

In his new radio ad for Florida Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, President Obama says, “Kendrick’s been a powerful voice for Floridians, standing up to special interests to hold Wall Street accountable, fighting the insurance industry to make sure that healthcare isn’t denied our children because of a pre-existing condition.”

The attacks are all the same. They don’t go after actual Republican policies. They simply accuse Republicans of being in the pockets of big-money backers from afar.

What’s telling is not just that they’re resorting to such desperate distractions, but that the claims have become more outlandish as the election has drawn closer. The Obama White House went from claiming that Rush Limbaugh led the Republican Party to claiming that Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, and mysterious foreigners were bankrolling it to advance their sinister agenda.

But it’s really hard to blame the Democrats for such childish behavior. After all, would you want to run on their record?

About the Author

Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is @Drewhampshire.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (58) |

Booger| 10.13.10 @ 6:11AM

From the Desk of President B. Hussein Obama:

Dear American Voters,

I want to take this opportunity to briefly explain why you simply MUST get out and vote this November 2 in support of our many fine Democratic candidates. There are several good reasons for you to do so, and I would like to touch on a few of them at this time.

First of all, recent polls suggest that former President Bush is now running neck and neck with Me in public opinion polling. This suggests that the Republicans have hatched a secret plan to bring that hateful and hated warmonger cowboy back as President! Think about it: first the Republicans take over the Congress, then they bring back Bush! It is definitely possible that they have hatched just such a nefarious scheme. Some of you have suggested to me that this is not possible due to something about "the Constitution" and "an amendment". Quite frankly, I've never actually had the time to set down and read the thing (sooooooo ancient and boring, and I've got a lot of golf to catch up on) so I'll just have to take your word for it. But even so, I can tell you that the constitution never stops me from doing what I want to, so why would the Republican be any different? So let's get out the vote to defeat Bush!

Not only do we need to defeat Bush, we need to show the world that you people are over being the bunch of racist rednecks you have been in the past. Let's face it, up until two years ago this was the most racist, backward, bigoted, redneck country on the face of the Earth. Two years ago you finally managed to get something right for the very first time. If you turn around and change your minds now that will totally blow it! Do you really want our great friends in Saudi Arabia, China, Pakistan and Turkey having to look down on you again because you can't get it together on human rights? And how can you get it together on human rights if you reject Me, the Great Unifier of All Enlightened Ones? So get out the vote to show that you're finally catching up with the Yemenis on human rights!

As to you seniors, let Me remind you of what you have to be reminded of every election cycle: If the Republicans win they'll take away you're Social Security and Medicare, and probably institute death panels to boot! That's right, if you don't vote Democrat there will be a freeze on your annual Cost of Living Adjustment for Social Security. Medicare will be stripped of funding, and you will be left out in the cold, eating cat food and waiting to die. So get out and vote for My party to make sure that there are no Medicare cuts, no Social Security freezes, and no death panels!

Finally, I expect you to do all you can to ensure My victory in November. You need to vote Democrat. You need to take your friends and family and have them vote Democrat instead. Maybe you could offer them a prize or incentive to get out and vote for Me. Many of you have pets (especially you "eccentric" senior ladies and your cats). Well remember, pets are people too! Just go down to your local Democratic Party HQ and they'll make sure fluffy gets her absentee ballot. They can even fill it out for you!

Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces at my next rally.

Your President for Life,

B. Hussein Obama

P.S. I really hate to have to say it, but some of these polls I've seen force me to bring it up. Are you a bunch of racists? If not, then it's time to prove it. Remember, vote Democrat to prove you are not a gun-toting, Bible-clinging, racist, homophobe, xenophobe, redneck who wants to kill old people and children and go back to the old United States of Amerikkka.

Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 10.13.10 @ 8:13AM

Booger, the scary thing about this letter is I don't believe B.O. (he stinks!) would have any problem sending this letter out word for word because he truly thinks this way. You have nailed B.O. perfectly.

Ned| 10.13.10 @ 1:47PM

c'mon, Booger... you can't take credit for comedy by just plagiarizing Barry Bullsh*t's shtick... I mean it's funny and all, but you got this in the mail from the DNC, didn't you...?

LeoInTheWoods| 10.13.10 @ 2:14PM

"prove you are not a gun-toting, Bible-clinging, racist, homophobe, xenophobe, redneck who wants to kill old people and children and go back to the old United States of Amerikkka"
Islamophobic. You left out Islamophobic. Sheesh!

WhatThe...| 10.13.10 @ 4:40PM

Surely you jest. These cannot be your real thoughts. In a parallel universe, perhaps; but certainly not here and now. Really, is this supposed to be satire?

Alan Brooks| 10.13.10 @ 6:03PM

It's sound 'n' fury.
At any rate, you can find someone as good as John McCain through any VFW post, anywhere.
You might run your grandfather for POTUS and get the same thing.
I'll keep saying it: those of you who voted for McCain made your beds-- now lie in them.

Tomas| 10.14.10 @ 5:03PM

FTA: Obama: "Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these [Republican] ads regularly takes in money from foreign sources."

Two words: George Soros.

Shut up, Barry. Everyone knows you guys play the same game. You can't kick sand in your opponents' faces in a windstorm.

And the White House wonders why Dem Congressmen are running from him like the plague.

-

Stammon| 10.13.10 @ 6:18AM

"there will be a freeze on your annual Cost of Living Adjustment for Social Security. Medicare will be stripped of funding, and you will be left out in the cold, eating cat food and waiting to die"

Gosh; It's deja vu all over again.

Prudence| 10.13.10 @ 7:02AM

If Dems had anything to offer beside abject failure they might get some votes! But their scenario is on the skids and voters will do them a favor by stopping them in their tracks ! This is a homeless party begging for a vote to ? ? ? ?

Average Infidel| 10.13.10 @ 7:37AM

The petulant punk is at it again, well actually, he's never stopped from the campain trail to be a responsible leader, but I digress.
Note to self, obamas Bin Ly'n's a liar, democrats are children, and my dad can open a can of woop-ass on your dad. So there. Time for the adults to do their American duty and send these son's of jackass's to their rooms forever.

coal carrier| 10.13.10 @ 7:40AM

Don’t be surprised if Nancy and the lame-duck Congress try to ram through amnesty for illegals by the end of the year, hoping to get another 20,000,000 votes for November 2012.

Alan Brooks| 10.13.10 @ 10:04PM

While you run another candidate in over his head? another empty GOP suit?

Cylar| 10.14.10 @ 3:16AM

You're asking US about running empty-suited, unqualified candidates for POTUS?

Surely you're not really asking that question.

Louis Jenkins| 10.13.10 @ 8:20AM

Today I noticed on the TV ad after ad saying just that. That the Republicans want to strip seniors of their medicare, and social security. And they run pictures of seniors while the spokes person gives his speal. Deja Vu is correct. How many times have we seen this? It has reached the point, even though I'm approaching that age that the balleyhoo doesn't work, that, yes, I've grown insensitive. The bottom line is we're mad. We're angry, and believe it is time to jump up and shake our fingers in their faces to put it lightly. How many community meetings have these farces held and ignored the mainstay of the audience? How many times have they ignored the Constitution and flatly said so? It is time to stop this non-sense, and it will be stopped come this Nov.

Redstateboy| 10.13.10 @ 8:36AM

Once again the Slave Party is going back in to their tired old bags of tricks appealing to their base of ignorant, dumb slaves.

Houston Rao| 10.13.10 @ 9:10AM

Sounds like a great time to put up billboards with "You Lie" in bog bold letters. Show him to be the liar he is.

Petronius| 10.13.10 @ 9:27AM

Same ole campaign against the same ole enemies, normality and reality. Oh, and they still hate their parents.

Appleby| 10.14.10 @ 7:01AM

This is what I have been saying for years -- they are stuck in 1968.

Remember 1968? If not, google it. The people who started that, started this.

Rmm| 10.13.10 @ 9:40AM

To Barry:
Sorry, I just don't feel like the lame- brained, dumb ass that you desperately need, in order to stave off the approaching blood bath coming your way. Have a cheery 11/2.

Anthony| 10.13.10 @ 10:11AM

Obozo has once again demonstrated his community organizer, Saul Alinsky mind set. Straw dogs and imagined enemies are deceitfully created in order to acheive the objective. The ends justify the means.
Imagine if George Bush had said that if the Ds take over congress it will be "hand to hand combat". Then you have the vice jackass, O'biteme with his "if the Rs win, they will take away S.S. Oh pleeeze, enough already, you MORON.
The MSM pays no attention to these comments because they are for the cause. They, like Obozo and friends, are utterly and completely corrupt.
Poor Bob Schieffer, having to sit across from Alexrod and ask "Is that all you got"? Yes Bob, it's all the Ds have had for decades, not that you and your ilk in the media cared to expose it.
The Ds are completely morally and intellectually bankrupt. The four corners of deceit are in for a rude awakening.

Nunya| 10.13.10 @ 10:46AM

Democrats are desperate, they know that they're about to lose power and they want to scare people into voting for them. It's worked in the past, so why not?

Personally, I'll vote Democrap (or for a RINO, for that matter) when my IQ drops below 70 and my soul turns black.

Ned| 10.13.10 @ 1:50PM

not even then...

voted against carter| 10.13.10 @ 12:06PM

Hey do like we do in Chicago!

Get out and Vote early and Vote often!

And don't forget All your dead relatives!

They have a right to voice their opinion at the polls as much as you do!

Jullou | 10.13.10 @ 12:32PM

The moldy, worn out tactics that Democrats have used for years. Problem is, there are many young people who are hearing this propaganda for the first time, and they actually believe it.

Senor Mick| 10.13.10 @ 12:33PM

The "Special Interests are coming to get you" mantra is so inane--so incredibly stupid, purile, and mindless--that I blew a guyser of diet Mountain Dew from my snorting-in-delight nostrils at the article's mention of it (delighted , that is, that adults would be reduced to the equivalent of "Don't vote for him--he's a poopyhead". I have used this as a guiding principle in my life asa participating citizen, in fact, with variable results.

Surely these people realize that there are 300 million plus "special interests" in this messy republic of ours, don't they? It seems that the Democrats are exhibiting an sort of intellectual fatigue from trying to categorize each of them witout realizing that all these evil Special Inetrests overlap (and some are more specially interesting than others). Even evil businessmen have elderly parents, you know.

How about re-sizing congress to accommodate all those extra special interests (565 Congresscritters are simply too few to realisitcally represent the competing interests of hundreds of millions, who grow each day).

And that's all I have to say about that.

Cylar| 10.14.10 @ 3:18AM

565?

I believe you mean 435 Reps + 100 Senators = 535.

Where are those last thirty coming from?

vtwin| 10.13.10 @ 1:24PM

There's almost no cure for you teabaggers! Here you are indulging in wishful thinking in the midst of the crisis you created with you accomplices in Corporate Big Money Land. You gonna lose those midterms and you know it! I'll bet my HD Sportster that President Obama will come up gavanized from those polls! Obama rules!

Cogito Ergo Sum Conservativum| 10.13.10 @ 1:50PM

What are you doing back here? You said a week ago you were getting on your moped and leaving, crying all the way.

Oh, and only chicks ride Sportsters.

Nunya| 10.13.10 @ 5:25PM

Sportster? Here I'd have thought you'd have had a real bike. Hard to be a Hells Angel on a sportster, isn't it? ;-)

Cylar| 10.14.10 @ 3:18AM

Do you really believe your own bullshit?

Oh wait, Obama does. Never mind.

MIlissa| 10.14.10 @ 4:24AM

you would do well to see who rescinded the up tick rule and who demanded that financially unviable people be given mortgages. Take care of that Sportster, I'll pick it up November 3rd

Oldefarte| 10.13.10 @ 1:37PM

Let me try and 'SPLAIN IT TO YA' for all those that are intellectually lacking. Obama is a LAWYER [Haaarvard, no less] and he and Democrats get much of their money from ATTORNEYS' contributions [so that same will legislate fovorably toward said group]. Attorneys make it their modus operende to verbally and legally attack business entities [mainly insurance companies who have large reserves of money available to fund their court awarded fees of 50%; but also banks, etc ie 'CORPORATE FAT CATS']. Additionally, they are in political bed with labor unions, who are solely responsible for driving labor overseas to China, India,etc [where the labor is much less expensive than union wages for corporations needing to eliminate the high cost of union wages from their costs/expenses]. US manufacturers being faced with excessive union wages/costs have moved/outsources their operations overseas to these lower cost countries, and therefore the loss of US jobs resulting from same are solely due to LABOR UNIONS and to DEMOCRATS. As to their attacks regarding 'foreign interests', does anyone with a brain think that any foreign interests would contribute to either the Republicans? Bill Clinton got much of his money from Chinese interests [remember the WH teas and overnight stays by Chinese in the Lincoln Bedroom?], and Barack Obama got his from Middle Eastern sources. Fro them to squeel about foreign money is their typically hypocritical BULLEXCREMENT from a bunch of LYING MF'S!!!!!!!!!!

anti-anti| 10.13.10 @ 2:12PM

Hey, you Oldefarte, you are just a bit too old to be participating here. Union membership among workers in the private sector stood at a whopping 7.2% in 2009. If you think that explains anything, let alone all the job losses to overseas, then it is clear it is time for you to put your keyboard away and return to your nursing home.

Milissa| 10.14.10 @ 4:30AM

anti-anti- common sense, you are a bit too unprepossessing to be here either. Do you recall a wonderful thing called NAFTA that slick willie told me was the best thing since sliced bread,yet shipped my job to south america? And unions are still kicking, they fully expect to get their money's worth with the card check law from B.O. Perhaps you should open a window in your mother's basemen and let in some fresh air?

LeoInTheWoods| 10.13.10 @ 2:07PM

It's one thing for a candidate that's vying for a seat to tell a bunch of whoppers to get into office, and quite another when the chief executive in the country stands up, names names and makes baseless accusations. This kind of unsubstatiated slander by a sitting enforcement office has to be against the law, even during a campaign season.
If the chief of police makes such accusations, there's a requirement to provide proof of some sort. Why not the chief executive of the whole country?

Intelligent Design| 10.13.10 @ 3:18PM

The Democrats are at war against American citizens. We are the enemy and they are assaulting us with oppressive government, higher health care costs, higher taxes, invasions of our property rights and, denial of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The subversive Democrats are undermining the Constitution. At the same time they are defending illegal immigrants, giving captured terrorists the rights of American citizens, and telling us we should be tolerant of that 7th century abomination called Islam.

anti-anti| 10.13.10 @ 3:25PM

Intelligent Design - Perhaps you are unaware that Democrats are also American citizens, just like you.

skip| 10.13.10 @ 3:52PM

Yes they are indeed American citizens. The citizens most lacking in intelligence and most lacking in honesty. Please name one positive development in this nation brought about by a union in your lifetime.

anti-anti| 10.13.10 @ 4:07PM

Yes, skip, of course you are right. The positive contribution of the unions all happened before I came along. What have they done recently? Not being a student of labor history, I can't name much.

But we might observe that the decline of the middle class and the extreme inequality wealth and income distribution which we now have, began during Reagan's tenure, at the same time as the beginning of the the decline of the unions.

Coincidence? I'll let the historians judge that one.

skip| 10.13.10 @ 4:31PM

What decline of the middle class? According to what source? Do you have an opinion on the extreme inequality of income confiscation? Per the data of the IRS as reported by the Tax Foundation, the top 1% income earners paid more in income tax than the bottom 95% in 2007 when Bush was president. Should the top 1% pay an even larger percentage? Is this fair? Is this equal treatment as defined by the Constitution? The same report shows the top 50% paid 97.11% of income taxes while the bottom 50% paid 1.89%. Is this just? Who provides more jobs for American citizens, the top 1% or bottom 99%? By the way, historians consider the Reagan tenure as the reason for the unprecedented largest increase in generated wealth in the history of mankind.

Albert| 10.13.10 @ 4:35PM

"But we might observe that the decline of the middle class and the extreme inequality wealth and income distribution which we now have, began during Reagan's tenure..." You might observe that, but you would be wrong in your observation. What started under Reagan was wealth expansion, not "redistribution." The only class that saw an average decline in income was the lower class, but that is because many of these people LEFT the lower class and entered the middle class as their personal incomes rose. The middle class prospered and thrived under Reagan and this is what has carried the US economy ever since, inspite of the efforts of the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama team of fools who understand nothing of economics.

Nunya| 10.13.10 @ 5:28PM

Well said, and accurate.

idalily| 10.13.10 @ 7:59PM

Uh, no, the decline of the middle class, inequality and income redistribution really began around 1913, with that wonderful invention called Income Tax. And progressed with SS, and was in full flower for Medicare. Unions? They're just facilitators.

Repeal the 16th!

jstwndring| 10.14.10 @ 3:51AM

You might also "observe" that this country is about opportunity, not, equal income distrubution through the elimination of private property rights that the tyrants on the left promote via their Marxist ideology. Without private property rights there is no liberty.

idalily| 10.13.10 @ 7:56PM

Really? Then they should act like it.

RightIsWrong| 10.13.10 @ 4:50PM

Is this where teabaggers come to blame everyone but themselves for the problems we face? You really think that this secret money that is being dumped into our elections isn't buying something? Republican candidates have already shown their true colors and nothing will change them. They love to spend big money and have someone else worry about paying for it. You can't point to any recent history and say that republicans have earned the title conservative.

Nunya | 10.13.10 @ 5:32PM

You're absolutely right about Republicans not earning the title "Conservative". That's why my loyalty is NOT to the Republican party, but to the BEST conservative running.

Having said all that, show me ONE Conservative Democrat, anywhere. They don't exist. However, I and many others in this country are tired of voting in RINO's because the GOP leadership says they're "electable". It's time for some new blood, and hopefully we'll get some in about 3 weeks.

Cylar| 10.14.10 @ 3:20AM

Oh, you gotta love that good old fashioned projection.

They worship anything with a (D) after its name, so they naturally assume we feel the same way about a bunch of mealy-mouthed, ham-handed RINO's who happen to have an (R) after theirs.

Get bent.

jstwndring| 10.14.10 @ 3:44AM

You are a fool if your allegience is to ANY political party. Your allegience should be to the Constitution and whichever candidate supports the style of government outlined by it. Oh, and by that I mean LIMITED government. Sorry, is that too subtle?

Intelligent Design| 10.13.10 @ 8:20PM

About 50 years ago Robert F. Kennedy wrote a good book titled "The Enemy Within", which was about the Mafia, the teamsters' union, organized crime, etc.. The same title could be used for a new book about the Democrat Party.

Aaron| 10.13.10 @ 8:40PM

anti-anti,
"But we might observe that the decline of the middle class and the extreme inequality wealth and income distribution which we now have, began during Reagan's tenure, at the same time as the beginning of the the decline of the unions." I read this in an article and I wanted to share it with you: "America is returning to a peasant mentality of a limited good that redistributes wealth rather than creates it." Clinton had this mentality and so does Obama. Is it because he didn't grow up here? I'm sure that in Kenya or wherever he grew up, there existed the "peasant mentality." From what I read, his father had it. But this is supposed to be the United States of America where wealth is created - not redistributed. Is this what we want? To be peasants? I've lived in the Thirld World. This is how they think.

Appleby| 10.14.10 @ 7:07AM

My communist ex-brother-in-law used to concede that communism would never take hold in America because we have no proletariat. Apparently Obama missed that part.

jstwndring| 10.14.10 @ 3:39AM

Ahhh, correct me if i'm wrong, but, isn't the head of GE on Obama's economic advisory board? And doesn't GE own somewhere around 70 to 80% of this country's green technology? And tell me, which political party is pushing green energy? Hmmm. Wasn't the incandescent light bulb recently outlawed? By who? By GE and their friends in the DemocRat Party! Corporate conspiracies? Special interests? Cap and Trade? Do these idiots on the left really want to pursue some corporate conspiracy theory on the right? Please do! Believe me, we have far more ammo than you do. Morons.

wayne tallaksen| 10.14.10 @ 2:50PM

WOW! How do these people look at them selves in the morning! Obama and the Democrats look like a bunch of HOOOWLING Cats trying to cover up S##T on a green marble floor! Sad thing is there are those that will swallow this! Education in our Nation has been used for nothing but indoctrination! Sad.

TeddyKGB| 10.24.10 @ 2:31AM

This is a fairly rich premise, considering conservatism dies without its own imaginary enemies: communists, socialists, gay people with an AGENDA, minorities, illegal aliens, atheists, etc. etc. etc.

Try looking in a mirror, you morons.

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