In this election, as in most, we've lost because the G.O.P. will stoop to any tactics to win, and we won't. We take the high road. And guess where the high road leads? Off a cliff.
This is the sad fact in American politics today; playing it clean doesn't work. We need to get so dirty in 2008 that Karl Rove gasps in horror.
The perceived negativity backlash is an illusion; lies work, dirty tricks work, voter disenfranchisement works, shameless appeals to irrelevant social issues work. Being the best man for the job does not work.
We tried to run on positivity this time; that was a mistake. Our biggest issues should have been Bush's AWOL years, his drug record, his arrest record, his insider trading record, and his ties to special interests. We had the ultimate target for character assassination and we chose to run on issues instead while those scumbags painted an American hero as a vacillating coward in the eyes of the average, retarded voter. Character assassination works. Running on the issues does not. That makes me very sad, but it's today's reality.
Next time around, we need a campaign so ruthless that Michael Moore says, "woah, take it easy there, guys." I don't care if it's against a McCain/Jesus ticket. We need to relentlessly crucify the Republicans on character if we want to actually advance our reasonable policies. That's how the game needs to be played now. And we need to start as soon as we have any idea who's going to be on that ticket in 2008... for now, like it or not, that means McCain.
It's a sad, sad day. But the Republicans have drug this country's political discourse into the gutter, and it's time to get down in there with them with bigger and better guns and flush their asses out.