Claire is going to be hard to slime. She has run several state wide races. Probably as vetted as any candidate in the country. That said, we are all going to have to put on hipboots and raincoats here in Missouri. The NRSC is coming to town. The slime ads start now.

Too bad the Democrats won't respond in kind.

Ron Byers

Now would be a good time for all those Democratic Senators sitting on piles of cash to start spreading it around a bit. Are you listening, Diane? Can you hear me, Hillary?

Actually, they can't. Senators' campaigns committees have the exact same maximum contribution limits as us regular people. I think $5,000. Same if they have a "Leadership PAC." It's not like Hillary can write a million dollar check to match the RNC dollar for dollar.

They can encourage their donors to write checks to Claire's committee, or to some 527 working in the race. But that's about it.

As I've said before, Bush and his cohort in Congress are looking at the possibility of their worst nightmare coming true;
Henry Waxman chairing a committe with subpoena power. This year the Republicans will be pulling out tricks even 'they' were reluctant to pull in past campaigns and elections. In my opinion, up to this point, this election is the most important in our history. If Democrats don't win at least one House and get some control over the right wing policies of Bush and this Congress, and that gang are again given full control, what do you think is coming? Where will the United States be in two years? Maybe a better questions is; 'WHAT' will the United States be in two years?

It’s in the book; it’s in their playbook; they (Republicans)don’t know how else to handle things except negatively. There is no sense of reality here, only Republican “spin”. It will continue until the election and, if they prevail, we can expect it to continue unabated. So, please, don’t act surprised; and above all don’t act as if it won’t happen again and again. One more point: The Republicans have mastered one technique and use it very well: It is called “first strike.” They frame the argument and the Democrats have to respond to it. If only some smart Democrat had come forward, immediately, and said, “Expect this to happen, expect this type of campaign from the Republicans,” they might have taken the “first strike” capability away from the Republicans. And, by doing this, they might have begun to show how the Republicans are bending events to remain in power.
The Democrats have been out of power for so long they're afraid to lose any handhold they have. It is important to vote for them, nevertheless, to balance the Republicans who have lived up to Lord Acton's maxim: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Sure the Democrats are scared, timid, afraid to speak out. So what? Does our analysis of it help the situation? Republicans lie. They continue to lie. The Republicans (and that includes Lieberman) tell lies so they can stay in power. Why is everyone so surprised by this, so astonished, so affronted by it? If you expect them to lie, and anticipate it, as opposed to being blindsided by it, as Kerry was by the swiftboating, then you will perpetually be the victim. And the Democrats have a long history of being aggrieved, of being the victims. Continue along that path, and once again you'll be a victim. As Morris Dees discovered, when you fight back, hit them hard, sue them where it hurts, make them pay dearly for each lie, then you will not be blindsided any more.
Second, it seems to me that the Democrats have been playing the victim, as in "Poor me!", for much too long. First, they let the Republicans mount an attack on them and their positions. Then they act surprised at the "bad" Republicans for doing this. Then they protest, calling what the Republicans do "despicable" or "dirty tricks" or "untrue". All of which only makes the Democrats look even more like victims. And so they dig their own fate. I also sense that, when they do this and ring their hands, they are hoping the Republicans will receive their comeuppance from some mysterious force, and that they will self-destruct of their own accord. Act like a victim, end up like one. So go out and vote for a Democrat, no matter how weak, get your friends to vote Democratically, and act to help others do the same.

I tend to agree. Taking the high ground doesn't seem to work. Kerry thought he was doing that, and look at what happened to him. You need to be a street fighter to survive this time around.