The Southern Male Democrat

Pardon me while I cackle with glee. According to a story in today’s New York Times, House Republicans just lost their third special election in a row this year. The Democrat won in Mississ-freakin’-ippi, which is probably the reddest of the red states. No, I am not that much of a partisan dork that I care that much about three more House seats.

Rather, my cackling is because in this specific campaign, the GOP tried their darndest to link the Democrat, Travis Childers, to the Obama/Rev. Wright idiocy. (Sorta like our own Republicans here in NC.)

Guess what? It didn’t work. And that’s a BAAAAAD sign for Republicans in the fall. Angry, white, southerners have always been their trump card and ads like this have a long history of working with that demographic. (Harvey Gantt, are you reading this?)

Let the gnashing of teeth from the Right begin. Today’s NYT story is full of choice quotes. Here’s my favorite;

Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, did not go as far as his predecessor, Mr. Davis, in advising members to step away from Mr. Bush. But Mr. Cole, facing growing restiveness among Republicans about the party leadership, acknowledged the tumult in his party’s ranks and suggested that his committee would look for a change in strategy.

“When you lose three of these in a row you have to get beyond campaign tactics and take a hard look and ask if there is something wrong with your product,” he said.

No shit, Sherlock. There’s a LOT wrong with your product. Voters are sick of being riled up about crap that doesn’t matter. They just want their elected officials to govern. When these ads stop working in Mississippi, you know the sentiment has reached critical mass.

[Postscript - I just talked with Mrs. SMD and told her my topic. She thinks I shouldn't even blog about this, as we don't want the GOP to wise up and use better campaign tactics. While she flatters me by overstating the scope of this blog, you know these guys can't help themselves and will still use this crap come hell or highwater.)