Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Now why didn't anyone else think of this?

I've got to hand it to the Rude Pundit: he sure knows how to propose a rock-solid idea. If only the Democratic National Committee weren't so laden with DLCers, and had more Kucinich types, the national agendas of ending the Iraq war and impeaching Bush and Cheney might stand a snowball's chance in hell.

The idea is simple: jump on David Vitter, the disgraceful senator from Louisiana who got busted for having solicited favors from prostitutes in the D.C. Madame scandal, and get him to resign before the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state that foisted Britney Spears upon an unwilling world.

See, if the GOP manages to win Louisiana's gubernatorial throne they can dump Vitter and replace him with another Republican. And should that happen, Joe LIEberman will continue to block any attempt to end the war in Iraq by threatening to caucus with the GOP. But, if Louisiana keeps its governorship Democratic, and if the DNC can actually launch an effective PR campaign against Vitter for his hypocrisy (he was a staunch antagonist of then-president Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal) and force him into early retirement, chances are good his replacement will be a Democrat. And that means no more having to suck up to Joe LIEberman.

The problem, however, is twofold: there isn't much time left between now and Louisiana's gubernatorial election, and Democrats haven't the media savvy to control the dialog. Sure, Larry Craig resigned in disgrace after getting busted soliciting an undercover police officer for gay sex in a public restroom. But he is from the politically safe GOP stronghold of Idaho, and his replacement will be a Republican who can better avoid the unpleasant stigma of running with a scandal over his head.

That's why David Vitter was neither abandoned by his political party, or forced to resign; his seat would have been ripe for a Democrat, and that would have lost the GOP its LIEberman card. As long as Republican Joe has the ability to prevent an end to the Iraq war, and end investigations by the Senate into the numerous scandals plaguing the White House, count on Harry Reid to continue to surrender on every single meaningful piece of legislation.

So the time is now. Contact the DNC and get someone, anyone, in a position to influence the direction of the Sunday talk show discussions to turn the tables for once on the right-wing media. Make the discussion about David Vitter, why he is still in office in spite of also having been caught in a sex scandal, and why he must resign immediately for the good of Louisiana and the country.

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