The Rushmore Report: Will The Democrat “Damaged Goods” Strategy Backfire?
As the 2014 mid-term election cycle goes into full swing, it is worthwhile to recall the many occasions on which Democrats have attempted to derail a Republican candidacy by flagrantly overblowing a single misstep into monstrous proportions. All too often, this underhanded line of attack enjoys unwarranted success because, in the wake of the contrived liberal firestorm, the invertebrate wing of the Republican Party reverts to what it considers politically “safe” ground. This usually involves turning on the beleaguered candidate, especially if that individual happens to be a staunch conservative.
Perhaps the most famous cases involved U.S. Senator George Allen from Virginia, and Missouri’s Todd Akin. Both were thrown to the liberal wolves over errors involving a single word, Allen for invoking the label “macaca” to deride an annoying interloper from the opposition campaign, and Akin for using the word “legitimate” when he should have said “actual,” to differentiate between real rape situations as opposed to phony allegations of such. In Akin’s case, “mainstream” Republicans continue to this day to thrash him as proof that they are not to be included among that extreme right wing “fringe” from the Tea Party.
However, over time a shameless pattern of fraud and manipulation has emerged, by which Democrats concoct strategies of “attack and destroy” against their Republican opposition, based not on any real malfeasance, but on the unrelenting accusations of something, anything, that might be construed as derogatory, which is thereafter inextricably linked to the candidate. Although this may be presumed as merely the typical hardball of high-level politics, it has degenerated in recent years to the point of total fraud and slander, with the American people being victimized by the deception as much as the targeted candidate. And matters are only made worse by the increasingly brazen collaboration of a shameless, partisan liberal media.
The list of Republicans who have been dispatched from the political scene, as a result of an orchestrated liberal Democrat/media mugging is ultimately not representative of a substandard field of candidates, but of a leftist political movement in this country that intends to ruthlessly control the masses, by force and intimidation if necessary. As such it poses a threat to not only those who unabashedly proclaim themselves to be on the right, but to every American who holds any allegiance to the concept of self-government. For if capable aspirants to public office can be chosen or rejected by an unscrupulous opposition, based not on their actual talents and abilities, but on the ferocity of liberal malice directed at them, the political right will continually find itself in a defeated position before a single vote has been cast.
Having enjoyed enormous success at neutralizing potential Republican candidates such as Allen and Akin, the Democrats have reverted to their phony controversy strategy with so much regularity that their inclination to fly into a manufactured rage is becoming wholly predictable. The good news is that owing to this predictability, it has the potential to lose its effectiveness, providing the GOP refuses to play along with it. Admittedly, the current GOP “Establishment” has not exhibited a reliable predisposition towards courageously and strenuously opposing any liberal ruse, no matter how transparent it may be.
The list of those on the right who have been abandoned to twist in the wind by their supposed allies in the Republican Party is shamefully long, and promises to continue growing, particularly as November approaches, and 2016 looms. Democrats are on the ropes over the dismal failure of the rollout of Obamacare, and facing even more voter backlash in the unlikely event that it ever becomes fully operational, at which point its harm to the American medical system will be fully realized. Consequently, their only hope of regaining in the House and Senate is to deflect all attention from their abysmal political track records, and instead devote themselves entirely to defaming their GOP rivals.
Hence, we have been subjected to such politically defining moments as Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s drink of water during his rebuttal to Barack Obama’s 2013 state of the union message. In the wake of Obama’s spectacle of fraud and dissembling, virtually the entire focus of the liberal media was fixated on Rubio’s unforgivable sip from a bottle, for which some commentators pondered the end of his political career. Admittedly, Rubio has since derailed any widespread conservative support on account of his collaboration with the other traitorous “Republican” gang of amnesty advocates. However, it could hardly be asserted with intellectual honesty that he had committed any noteworthy gaffe in his rebuttal speech.
Four years prior, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was similarly declared null, void, and completely beyond resurrection as a GOP rising star for his own response to an Obama State of the Union speech. And the nature of his unpardonable sin? Though the substance of his reply was far more weighty and meaningful than any of the platitudes offered by Obama, its tenor was rather bland.
Nevertheless, in the current political environment, the stars are lining up decisively against the Democrats, and could spell disaster for them (and victory for America) if the Republican Party has the wherewithal to seize the opportunity this circumstance presents to them. Yet if the GOP once again fumbles, the maligned and defamed “Tea Party” is poised to stand in the gap. In either case, Democrats who honestly assess the political landscape are finding themselves increasingly cornered and desperate.
On the other hand, the “community organizer” wing of the Democrat Party has been emboldened by the manner in which it maintained its hold on power in 2012, and is revealing its true colors. The sheer ugliness of Obamacare and the hardship and pain it has already inflicted on America are only compounded by such outrages as the exemption of favored constituencies from it or the unlegislated subsidies which Obama gave to Senate and House staffers in yet another back room deal. And in stark contrast to the mantle of collegiality which the left claims when expedient, the hideous reality of the liberal mindset continues to be revealed by such events as Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo’s assertion that “pro-life Americans are not welcome in New York.”
Nor do things look any better for the next presidential election cycle. Despite coordinated and shameless efforts to sweep the Benghazi scandal under the rug, the abject abandonment of Americans under siege at the consulate, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, is not being forgotten. Just this past week a Senate committee chaired by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein (hardly a Tea Party Conservative by any standards) conceded that U.S. officials at the highest levels knew immediately that the attacks on the Benghazi consulate were indeed the coordinated work of terrorists. In short, though Feinstein tried to sugarcoat the deceit, she ultimately admits that Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flagrantly lied to the American people about the true nature of that horrific event.
Meanwhile in the great state of Texas, ultra-liberal pro-abort icon Wendy Davis, who gained national attention for her filibuster of pro-life legislation, has been revealed as a liar of Clintonian proportions. Her flamboyant accounts of her past, complete with assertions of heroics and triumphs over personal hardship worthy of an epic Hollywood production, turned out to be a complete fabrication.
This is who liberal Democrats are. But they should not be allowed to engage in such tactics from their glass houses, while remaining unscathed. If Democrats really want to distract America from current issues by focusing on the baggage weighing down their Republican opponents, perhaps it is time to accommodate them. Let the games begin.
Christopher G. Adamo is a resident of southeastern Wyoming and has been involved in state and local politics for many years. He writes for several prominent conservative websites, and has written for regional and national magazines. He is currently the Chief Editorial Writer for The Proud Americans, a membership advocacy group for America’s seniors, and for all Americans. His contact information and article archives can be found at www.chrisadamo.com, and he can be followed on Twitter @CGAdamo.
A message from our Chariman & CEO
Chris’ article “Will The Democrat “Damaged Goods” Strategy Backfire?” drives home three things we should focus on in the months ahead.
- The left wing democrats will stoop to any depth to win an election
- We must never waiver from our basic principals – God, Family, Country, Personal Responsibility, and Helping Others™
- To secure a future of freedom for our kids and grand kids it is imperative we get the vote out in November and take back the Senate.
Thank you Chris for you insightful article.
Jerrell G. Clay, CLU
Chairman & CEO
The Proud Americans