Tom Cole Gets It!!!

After GOP activists watched incumbents campaign from the fetal position, and with some GOP activists thinking like 2008 will be a repeat of 2006, it's good to know that Tom Cole has noticed something promising:

Cole, who admits Republicans hurt themselves in 2006 with scandals and out-of-control spending, said the poll confirmed for him a comment he heard this week from a Republican colleague. Speaking of the Democrats, he said, "My God, they're dragging themselves down to our level."

It all adds up, Cole said, to a political environment reminiscent of 1992, a tough year for entrenched incumbents of both parties who suddenly saw their margins shrink or isappear. "The American people are rising up in disgust," Cole said, "and incumbents will pay. It's not anti-Republican anymore. It's anti-Washington."

He's right in saying that the mood isn't strictly anti-GOP. Cole's right in saying that the prevailing attitude has turned into anti-Washington. Democrats have shot themselves in the foot by mouthing the words that their Nutroots' puppetmasters tell them to say. That's a huge mistake, especially following MoveOn.org's Gen. Betray Us ad and Harry Reid's weeklong contrived anti-Rush diatribe.

What Democrats did was say that Gen. Petraeus was a traitor and a liar. They followed up that electoral disaster by claiming that Rush suddenly loathed the military. By making these wild accusations, they've stripped away their credibility on national security issues, especially on Iraq.

Let's not forget the role that John Murtha has played in this. Murtha accused the Haditha Marines of cold-blooded murder in the hopes of reaping a short term political gain. Now that Lt. Col. Paul Ware has recommended that murder charges be dropped against SSgt. Wuterich, it's looking inevitable that the investigation will almost totally refute Rep. Murtha's accusations.

Another thing that'll help Republicans go on the offensive is Hillary herself. Everyone talked about how cleverly she responded to Tim Russert's ticking time bomb question. Frankly, people in the heartland didn't think it was clever for her to say that she wouldn't use torture to prevent a attack. They thought that Hillary's response was irresponsible.