"Panic" is right -- but also Projection

the headline on drudge this moring is "Panic" under a picture of Obama with a link to a video of his speech in Ohio where he said, "They're fighting back. The empire is striking back. To win this election, they are plowing tens of millions of dollars into front groups. They are running misleading negative ads all across the country."

Clearly, Obama must feel hamstrung by the lack of a message. Here is the President of the United States traversing the country at the end of an election campaign, and all he is talking about is contributions made to independent groups supporting the GOP, contributions which are perfectly legal and which mirror the same type of contributions that have been routinely made to the groups aligned with the Democrats for at least a decade. In other words, Obama has nothing to talk about. That helplessness in the face of the Republican wave must scare the hell out of him.

But it is more than fear that is happening here. It is projection in my opinion. Obama is taking the time honored tactics of the Democrats and projecting them onto the Republicans. And for the first time in his presidency, he is doing something that is transparent; any idiot recognizes that he is describing Democrat tactics in his speeches.

Here in Connecticut we are treated on a regular basis to ads run against the Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley that do not address policy but rather talk about the textile company that went bankrupt and blame that bankruptcy on Foley. Of course, Foley sold the company two years before the new owners went into bankruptcy. that does not stop the Democrats. They also talk about the people who lost their jobs when the mill shut. The truth, however, is that while Foley ran the company, it increased the number of employees. We also get numerous ads about Linda McMahon and the "evil" WWE. The ads are now accusing her of helping numerous employees of the WWE kill themselves with drugs. And what is the proof: a number of former WWE employees have died in their 40's or 50's, many years after they performed for the WWE. In the local congressional campaign, Democrat Jim Himes (who gives Chuck Schumer a run for the title of most self centered person in Washingotn) has been running ads accusing republican Dan Debicella of being a dangerous right wing radical who wants to deny autistic children coverage by medical insurance. Again, this is not true. So the Democrats are running the very misleading negative ads that Obama is discussing. For their part, the Republicans in these races are running mostly positive ads. Debicella has not run any negatives. Foley's negatives on Dan Malloy, the Democrat, lists the tax increases and job losses suffered by Stamford while Malloy was mayor of the city; these ads are factual. McMahon's negative ads on Blumenthal are videos of Blumenthal speaking; they point out his lying about his military record and his lack of understanding how jobs get created. So, at least in Connecticut, Obama should be lamenting the Democrats tactics, not those of Republicans.