Attn Democrats: gotchas are not going to cut it this cycle

Just a little bit of advice to Democrats in Ohio: gotcha politics and lame fake scandals are not going to change the political dynamic this cycle. No matter how hard you try to catch Republicans in awkward situations or try to paint Tea Party folks as extremists it will not change the fundamental fact that unemployment is over 10%, your popularity is droping like a stone and you have no answers.

The latest example of this strategy is some bad jokes at a fundraising event. Yes, the jokes were in poor taste and not even funny. Yes, that is a headline if there ever was one: politicians are not funny!  Anyone who has ever attended any of these events could tell you that. Most politicians are just not funny and they don’t have a history of timely humor either.

As an aside, let me just say to any and all political activists, Tea Party organizers, and others involved in campaign events:

Please just shut up about the birth certificate! LET IT GO!

I don’t think these type of things matter a great deal but why waste everyone’s time and energy on this. Focus on what is important.

But in the end all these little controversies are just distractions. The fundamental issue of this election is jobs, jobs and jobs. Out of control federal spending and big government solutions that will only further hamper the economy are undercurrents that reinforce the jobs issue.  Any candidate who doesn’t get that is in trouble.

Rob Portman gets it. And he has focused his campaign like a laser on the issue.  And that is why he is leading in the polls despite running against two experienced candidates holding state wide office.

And this is why the left wants to attack him anytime anyone in his general vicinity says anything remotely controversial. This despite the fact that the left – both elected officials and activists – has smeared an entire populist movement of active citizens by making vulgar sexualized and derisive comments. Despite the history of poor taste and outrageous accusations that liter the history of the left and Democrats in this country.

Heck, most leftist blogs are unreadable thanks to their angry vulgarity and mouth frothing style. And yet Democrats stumbled over themselves to praise them when they need their money. And no one required denunciations. The hypocrisy here is staggering. The GOP is the only party who is required to distance themselves from any possible scandal or comment in poor tastes. Democrats compare President Bush to Hitler: perfectly fine. Republicans make a joke about Obama’s birth certificate: outrage!

But in the larger picture these gotcha attempts and fake scandals are just media moments and they won’t sway any votes or impact the campaign in any real way.

So on second thought, Democrats keep focusing on them while Republicans focus on the issues that matter. We will let the voters decide what is important.