[July 4th]

Economy: will be completely taken off the table by the middle of 2004.

Medicare: taken off the table. Plus AARP will supposedly be running $25m in ads supporting candidates who supported the bill.

Domestic terrorism: assuming no more homeland attacks, taken off of the table.

What's left? Iraq. And I have the full belief that the situation there will be completely under control in a matter of months, not years. After all, it's already a ton better than the media portrays.

The only thing I can think of as a growing issue is trade, but those arguments won't fly in a good economy, and it ignores the fact that while some have been hurt, many have been helped.

Bottom line: The Democrats have nothing left to run on for the general election. They can use abortion and gay rights in the primaries - they need to pander to the base. But if someone uses that stuff in the general election, they might as well give Walter Mondale a call and reminisce about 1984.

The game in elections is to capture the middle. The Rove strategy doesn't just capture it for a single election. It makes it part of the party. This moderates the Republicans, but utterly decimates the Democrats.

[Fledermaus]

The Dems don't want to have anything to do with gay rights since they are backing away from gay marriage already.

[Timesink]

Domestic terrorism: assuming no more homeland attacks, taken off of the table.

More than once, I've wondered if perhaps Al Qaeda isn't intentionally holding off on domestic terrorism until the next time a RAT is running the White House (and maybe one branch of Congress along with it). Perhaps they realize that if they bide their time until the next time a Dem is in charge - a day that will, sadly, come eventually - they'll be far more likely to get away with it.

[Consort]

...assuming no more homeland attacks,...

The population must not be allowed to assume that. It's not politics; it's common sense.

[WOSG]

"Economy: will be completely taken off the table by the middle of 2004."

If anything, this will be a positive for Bush in the next 6 - 12 months.

He can redo the 1984 campaign: "We cut Taxes. It worked. Re-elect me."