RNC Attack Campaign Drawing Republican Critics

[...these people really are clueless and desperate. If I didn't have
first hand knowlege in how lame they really are, I'd say they were
purposely trying to destroy the Republican party. It gets sadder and
more pathetic on almost a daily basis.]

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Within a few hours of Rod Blagojevich's arrest, the Republican
National Committee was circulating materials to reporters hoping to
prove that the governor was closely tied to Barack Obama. As the week
progressed, the attacks intensified, reality notwithstanding.

This culminated in a three-minute web video, released over the
weekend, featuring evidence of instances in which the senator from
Illinois met the governor of Illinois. This was helpful in proving ...
well, that the RNC is pretty desperate right about now and hard up for
content with which to smear Obama.

On Sunday, John McCain distanced himself from the RNC's efforts,
saying there's corruption in both parties and describing the RNC's
campaign as a distraction.

Today, Newt Gingrich went even further. From a written statement
issued by the former House Speaker:

"I was saddened to learn that at a time of national trial, when a
president-elect is preparing to take office in the midst of the worst
financial crisis in over seventy years, that the Republican National
Committee is engaged in the sort of negative, attack politics that the
voters rejected in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.

"The recent web advertisement, "Questions Remain," is a
destructive distraction. Clearly, we should insist that all taped
communications regarding the Senate seat should be made public.
However, that should be a matter of public policy, not an excuse for
political attack. [...]

"This ad is a terrible signal to be sending about both the goals
of the Republican Party in the midst of the nation's troubled economic
times and about whether we have actually learned anything from the
defeats of 2006 and 2008.

"The RNC should pull the ad down immediately."

Interesting. Now, I won't presume to know Gingrich is thinking here,
and for all I know, his statement was sincere.

But I think his denunciation speaks to a larger strategic truth --
there's just no reason for Republicans to pursue an Obama "connection"
with Blagojevich, because, as is obvious by now, there's nothing
linking the president-elect to this scandal. The more efforts the
Republicans invest, the more time they waste, and the less credibility
they'll have when their attacks fail to pan out.

Substantively, the RNC is pursuing a scandal that doesn't exist.
Politically, the RNC has nothing to gain by throwing around bogus
smears that no one seriously believes anyway, in a time of crisis
where tolerance for far-right nonsense is awfully low.

Gingrich, whatever his motivations, is for a change offering his party
some good advice.

?Steve Benen
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http://gssites.com/bbg/index.html
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