THE DERANGEMENT OF THE DEMOCRATS

Democrats Attack G.O.P. in TV Ads on Medicare Bill (CARL HULSE, July 12, 2003, NY Times)

Fearful of losing ground to Republicans on the potent issue of Medicare, House Democrats today began broadcasting television commercials attacking Republican lawmakers around the country for their support of the House-passed plan to create a new prescription drug benefit.

Democrats, who have long considered the health plan for the elderly one of their signature programs, say they are so determined to protect their legacy that they have taken the step of starting an advertising campaign more than a year before Election Day and even before the final version of the legislation has cleared the House and Senate. [...]

The early commercials illustrate the central role that the drug plan is likely to play in next year's campaigns. The advertisements are also a clear sign that Democrats are worried that Republicans and President Bush, with their support for a new $400 billion benefit, are poised to get credit on the issue.

"I think it is essentially a fact that the historic advantage that we have had as a party on this issue has significantly eroded," said Carter Eskew, a Democratic strategist. "In the short term, Democrats are behind the message eight ball, at least temporarily."

People in Washington labor under the delusion that we are all as steeped in the details of the Federal government as they are. In reality, there are two messages such ads convey and neither is helpful to the Democrats: (1) Republicans support a prescription drug coverage plan; (2) Prescription drug coverage is going to be expensive, bureaucratic, and confusing. Then their candidate is going to have to run next year saying that Republicans don't care about health care and that his own (inevitably complex) plan is a good thing. They're basically running an ad campaign that refutes their own election campaign. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 12, 2003 5:54 AM