All This Is That National Affairs Editor
I have come, increasingly to believe that Christine O'Donnell is just a red herring [1] created by the GOP. She has virtually zero chance of winning. Even if the Feds swooped in and found Chris Coons's hard drive filled with child pornography, with him co-starring in every clip, he would still likely shellac Christine O'D. The last Rasmussen poll had Coons ahead of O'D by around 11%. I'm pretty sure this week's debate will net out to her dropping another two or three points at the least.
So why is Christine the Red Herring? The GOP were stunned by her primary win, and once that wore off, they looked around and realized they were utterly and completely effed! They had other candidates in striking distance, without all the masturbation and witchcraft baggage. And the power poles in the GOP didn't have what it takes to slap a muzzle on her; for all they knew she would go bat-shit crazy and start naming names. So, they did what most of us do when caught between a rock and a hard place: nothing! They sat on their purses and left her twisting in the wind. But then it dawned on them that whatever crazy-talk she spoke or released could only draw heat away from some of the other Teabaggers that were saying equally or even more crazy things, but with far less media spotlight than the Delaware race.
The number of Democrats in danger is possibly up to even double the 39 seats Republicans need to consolidate their nefarious control of the House. It is a perfect storm for the Republicans: money, momentum and the mood of the country — which, alas, is sour on incumbents, most of who happen to be Dems.
The Democrats, and especially the independents and "uncommitted" need to focus on people in races where the Dems can actually win. The Republicans are playing a classic game of rope-a-dope[2] with the Democratic Party. We need to get off the ropes and back into the center of the ring
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[1] Red herring is one of my favorite English idioms. The Wikipedia gives a pretty decent definition: "the pungent red herring would be dragged along a trail until a puppy learned to follow the scent. Later, when the dog was being trained to follow the faint odour of a fox or a badger, the trainer would drag a red herring (whose strong scent confuses the animal) perpendicular to the animal's trail to confuse the dog. The dog would eventually learn to follow the original scent rather than the stronger scent. An alternate etymology points to escaping convicts who would use the pungent fish to throw off hounds in pursuit." In fact, we're following the red herring, when we need to be tracking the other, far more perilous contenders...
[2] Rope-a-dope is, according to the wikipedia, "by a boxer assuming a protected stance, in Ali's classic pose, lying against the ropes, and allowing his opponent to hit him, toward the end that the opponent will tire and make mistakes which the boxer can exploit in a counter-attack.
"In competitive situations other than boxing, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor."
[3] In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared. Judas goats are also used to lead other animals to specific pens and on to trucks.
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