"Um. . . I’ll see your censure and raise an
IMPEACHMENT!  Yeah, THAT’S the ticket!" 

Via Crooks and Liars, we see the bedwetting criminal Republican party has a new ad online, ostensibly warning its base that if the Democrats get the upper hand in November, Bush will be impeached.  Go see it.

My first reaction:  BWAAHAHAHAAAHAAAAAHAAAA! 

My second reaction:  I love it!  Please put it on the air.  Finally, someone cares about firing up our base!

My third reaction:  they’ll never put it in rotation.

Why? 

Because this is a bluff.  They want Chuck Schumer and the DC Democrats to think they really believe making the midterms a referendum on Bush’s fitness for office works for them. Too bad they developed this ad before reading my post last night, which shows that Schumer and his inside the beltway consultants already believe Rove’s bullshit.

As Glenn Greenwald has pointed out time and again, the Republicans want to bury the censure subject, not trumpet it.  There has been a lot of frustration around here over all the Democratic no-shows at yesterday’s censure hearing, but look who else did not bring it to the hearing:  Republicans.  Who attended from their side?  Graham and Specter (the Chairman), with a hit and run by Box Turtle Cornyn, a little bloviating from Jeff Sessions, and some nonsensical word drool from unhinged Orrin Hatch.

If Republicans thought this was an issue to highlight, they would have attended the hearing and tried to make it into a media circus, a kind of Dick Cheney farm raised quail hunting expedition, with press conferences and howls of gleeful outrage.  Instead, you had two senators with worries about the president’s evasion of law trying to find a way around it, and some others representing the only states left that still poll above 50% approval for Bush, making token statements.  Color me unimpressed.

I dare, double dare, I beg the RNC to buy air time for this ad.  If our side won’t fire up our base, I’d pay Ken Mehlman. . . in trade (ahem!). . . to do it.

But the RNC won’t run the ad.  It remains only online, where activists, pundits and political staffers will see it.  The ad is a signal to people like Schumer, to get them to think talking about censure works against Democrats. 

A little final ad deconstruction:  the ad associates censure with impeachment, blurring the distinction, even though impeachment has not been proposed.  That’s a preemptive bluff on the impeachment issue.  While the ad may scare and motivate some few members of the Republican base (whose loyalty to the president needs shoring up), and there may be some sputtering about impeachment among the John Gibson’s of the world, this ad will remain in online obscurity. 

If they run the ad in battleground states or hotly contested congressional districts this campaign season, then you’ll know I’m totally wrong, and they’re not bluffing.  If they do that, then they really believe the censure issue works for them.  I’ll gladly come back to admit my error.

So, what of it, Karl?  I play Texas Holdem, too.  I dare you:  run the ad.  Prove me wrong. 

Note:  Christy needed to take the morning off, so watertiger and Taylor Marsh will be back to take care of our Firedog Brigades this morning.  Send Christy your love and welcome our visiting blog cousins! 

Related posts:

  1. The Courage Of The Conservadems
  2. Early Morning Swim: Chuck Schumer Optimistic on Countdown
  3. Peggy Noonan: Catering to the Base Hurts the Country, Except When Republicans are in Charge
  4. Schumer’s “Level Playing Field” Public Option Amendment Fails, 10-13
  5. Which Senate Democrats Would Join a GOP Filibuster on a Public Option?