At first blush, I really like this strategy.
House Democratic leaders are honing an election strategy to taint the entire Republican caucus by demonizing Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
By running against DeLay, much as they ran against Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in 1996 and 1998, the Democrats believe they can damage centrist GOP members in potential swing districts that could determine who controls the House.
The strategy, which is based on the belief that DeLay is regarded as an extremist in many GOP-leaning districts, was previewed to lawmakers last week at a leadership luncheon by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
She galvanized colleagues with a promise that Democrats would not let Republicans claim to be moderates at home while taking marching orders from DeLay in Washington, said several sources at the luncheon.
The details of the plan are still being fleshed out, but Pelosi told her colleagues that they should be prepared to implement a strategy that will erase all distinctions between centrists and right-wing Republicans, lumping them together as reliable votes for DeLay and casting them in high relief with Democratic challengers.
I’m inclined to think this is a great idea that can work in Dems’ favor. After all, Gingrich was widely hated among the electorate, a fact which Dems capitalized on to win seats in the 1998 mid-term elections — a surprising and historical success that ultimately drove Gingrich from Congress. DeLay is, in many ways, far more offensive than Gingrich ever was, so painting GOP candidates as “DeLay Republicans” can be an effective tool.
At a minimum, even when dealing with GOP moderates, it’s an important reminder that all House Republicans, whether they’re extreme in their ideology or not, will be voting for Tom DeLay as the House Majority Leader when it comes time to elect the congressional leadership.
There’s only one thing that worries me about the plan: do enough Americans know who DeLay is?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m fairly certain Dems would win the White House and both chambers of Congress if Americans realized what DeLay thinks, wants, and acts like. The problem, I’m afraid, is that not enough people know the first thing about him.
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted last July, for example, asked respondents for their “overall opinion of some people in the news.” When the poll got to DeLay, 48% — almost half — either had no opinion or had never heard of him. A NBC/WSJ poll asked a similar question in 2002 and 52% had no idea who DeLay was. (And keep in mind, frequently in these polls, people pretend to know who these political figures are so as to hide the fact that they’re uninformed.)
It’s an ongoing problem with democracy. People need to be informed to make qualified decisions about who will lead, but these same people choose not to be engaged in the process. Most voters don’t even recognize their own area’s members of Congress, better yet DeLay. Important names that you and I may consider to be ubiquitous — Dennis Hastert, Donald Rumsfeld, Antonin Scalia — are probably completely unknown to a majority of Americans.
I’m concerned we could run an add labeling some GOP candidate a “Tom DeLay Republican” and voters would see the ad and ask, “Who’s Tom DeLay?”
The Hill report I quoted above added:
“DeLay is not Newt yet. Everyone knows that,” said a Democratic leadership aide.
Greg Speed, spokesman for the DCCC, said: “Once you raise his profile and how the right-wing agenda that dominates the Congress hurts families, it can become a winning issue in these Republican-held seats.”
Perhaps. But it’s kind of tricky educating voters first about who someone is, and then second why the person is scary as hell.