Blueprint?

Has Atrios stumbled upon the GOP strategy for neutralizing the Democrats in '06? He may have...

Late October - Despite the fact that all but 30 Democrats vote for the resolution, Republicans run a national ad campaign telling voters that Democrats are objectively pro-Ahmadinejad. Glenn Reynolds muses, sadly, that Democrats aren't just anti-war, but "on the other side." Nick Kristof writes that liberals must support the war due to Ahmadinejad's opposition to gay rights in Iran.

Election Day - Democrats lose 5 seats in the Senate, 30 in the House. Marshall Wittman blames it on the "pro-Iranian caucus."

The Day After Election Day - Miraculously we never hear another word about the grave Iranian threat. Peter Beinart writes a book about how serious Democrats must support the liberation of Venezuela and Bolivia.

While Republicans will no doubt denounce it as "alarmist" and denigrating to suggest the Administration would politicize Iran for domestic political reasons, I think its safe to say they could only believe that if they weren't paying attention for the past 6 years.

From getting the New York Times to quash the secret wiretapping program before the '04 election, to the humiliation of respected generals who recommend troop levels and strategies that are politically inconvenient for their Iraq adventure; there is sufficient evidence to conclude that politics plays a primary role in any and all policy decisions.

- Murphy