by Mark Adams

One thing Democrats should keep in mind during election season is never take the opposition's "advice" too seriously.  More specifically to this election, Democrats cannot stop fighting on every single issue, every day.

The grievances are piled high and deserve attention.  Call it whining if you must, but the litany of mistakes and malfeasance committed by our current crop of Republican rulers can be used as a club to frame the debate on every single issue at stake this November.

Ara bullet-pointed the MyDD braintrust's six-part formula to get a Democratic win this fall.  While even Digby, whose insightful perspectives never fail to inspire, has a "gut" feeling that their "common sense" approach is "uncomplicated and obvious."  I think that their six points have five too many.

Everything they say makes perfect sense, and should be internalized.  However, the last piece of advice, to "pick a fight, any fight" is the sine qua non of the strategy, and they acknowledge that "a resolute willingness to not back off in the face of criticism is key."

Pick a fight, any fight. Voters need to be convinced that Democrats can credibly challenge Bush. Whether the fight is over [choose your battle in the list of administration failures and overreach]  Democratic candidates must demonstrate strength through aggressive confrontation where the term "accountability" is more than just an abstraction . . .

Swopa boils it down to bumper-sticker size, getting a "second opinion."  The idea being that on any issue, one party rule has so botched things up that getting a second opinion: a bi-partisan legislative consensus, a judge issued warrant, a meaningful international coalition; is more than reasonable after years of WMDs, "mushroom cloud[s,]" "turning corner[s]," and "We never anticipated the levees would break."  We're not the al Qaeda party.  No one is running as a terrorist, there are no Iranian plants running for Congress or belongs to IFFY (the Islamic Fascists Fraternity of Yankees.)  All we want is a second opinion before George goes off on another attempt to make a sweeping transformation of the world we live in -- like destroying Social Security or Teheran.

I think I've reduced all this fine wonkery into something even a rattled, tired, distracted candidate can call on in the middle of a debate when s/he's put on the spot by remembering one word -- whine.  Any old hack can remember to whine as long as they're coached on how to do it without sounding like a baby.

Righteous indignation works in the current climate.  The longest enduring whine that drives wingtards to the brink is the sour grapes over the 2000 election theft.  They are soooooo tired of that lame bitch.  But its a huge winner.

Maybe the word "huge" is inadequate.  There is a 92% consensus in this country over the issue of transparency in counting our votes.  That's no typo.  Ninety-two per-cent across all demographics agree with this statement:  Citizens have the right to view and obtain information about how election officials count votes.

This is not the kind of so-called "most Americans" John McCain refers to when he takes the position that they don't want to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq -- when only 40% of the people agree with him.  This is not the 53% "mandate" Bush/Cheney received when they stole the 2004 election with the help of Ken Blackwell's electioneering

All of America knows who Katherine Harris is.  Can you name any other Florida congressional representative?  (For those of you who live there, can you name any from Oregon?  Who can name any Secretaries of State from any other state -- other than Ohio.  Ken Blackwell is a household name because he is the embodiment of what everybody (and I say that without exaggeration) who respects the democratic process is concerned about.

Our opponents may call it whining, but it's really about demanding accountability, transparency, honesty and competence in our public officials.  The whining comes in when we remind the voters of all that has been done badly or how we've been spun, lied to, stolen from and manipulated to even fear the swarthy gentleman carrying yogurt at the bus stop.  Those issues, after all, prove why only a Democratic Congress can protect your vote in this great experiment in self-rule.  Unless there is someone holding those "useless" hearings, initiating those "witch-hunt" investigations and playing "obstructionist" to the president's nominees, they will flush everything you thought this country was about right down the memory hole.