GOP woes extend to legislative races
Today's headline in the Bellingham Herald mirrors the state of the Republican party nationwide: The GOP pulls its support for yet another candidate.
This time, it's in the 42nd District in Whatcom County.
Incumbent Kelli Linville's Republican challenger, Craig Mayberry, has actively stopped campaigning with the election less than three weeks away. The GOP is yanking its support after discovering he owes in excess of $200,000 in unpaid state and federal taxes.
One can only guess if this would have been overlooked pre-Tom DeLay, pre-Bob Ney, pre-Jack Abramoff, and the continuing Scandals du Jour that seems to be making them so paranoid lately. Instead of Deny, Defuse, Destroy, that old strategy has given way to Discover, Distance, and Drop: Discover any skeletons previously overlooked, put some distance between the party and the candidate (or incumbent), and drop the subject in the hopes the media won't pick it up.
Polls show neither the old nor new strategies are working. But progressives need to remain aggressive in pointing out that the "values" party, and the "fiscally responsible" party isn't the GOP and it certainly hasn't been in a long, long time.
This time, it's in the 42nd District in Whatcom County.
Incumbent Kelli Linville's Republican challenger, Craig Mayberry, has actively stopped campaigning with the election less than three weeks away. The GOP is yanking its support after discovering he owes in excess of $200,000 in unpaid state and federal taxes.
One can only guess if this would have been overlooked pre-Tom DeLay, pre-Bob Ney, pre-Jack Abramoff, and the continuing Scandals du Jour that seems to be making them so paranoid lately. Instead of Deny, Defuse, Destroy, that old strategy has given way to Discover, Distance, and Drop: Discover any skeletons previously overlooked, put some distance between the party and the candidate (or incumbent), and drop the subject in the hopes the media won't pick it up.
Polls show neither the old nor new strategies are working. But progressives need to remain aggressive in pointing out that the "values" party, and the "fiscally responsible" party isn't the GOP and it certainly hasn't been in a long, long time.
