Yes, the Republican National Committee has shocking news. Teddy Kennedy is a—yikes!—liberal. The vaunted opposition research department of the RNC somehow unearthed this information, and on Monday morning, hours before Kennedy was to appear at a rally to endorse Barack Obama, the Republican Party sent out an email to reporters reminding them of this sinister nexus: Kennedy = liberalism. Its point: Kennedy’s endorsement “highlights” Obama’s “true liberal credentials.”
It’s hardly a given that Obama will win the Democratic nomination, but it’s clear that if he does, the RNC is ready with its traditional playbook: brand the Dem a liberal. No doubt, the same stratagem is set for Hillary Clinton. This traditional attack has often paid off for the Republicans. (Ask Michael Dukakis and the first George Bush.) But it could wear thin this time around. Obama, though obviously a progressive, has shown an ability to attract independents and even a few Republicans. Remember, voters are not nearly as ideological as the partisan activists of both sides. And in the case of HRC, after eight years of triangulating White House Clintonism and eight years of intermittent centrism in the Senate, the old Hillary-is-a-radical-socialist routine doesn’t resonate much these days, except among die-hard, living-in-the-past, Hillary-hating conservatives.
Nevertheless, the Republican Party will bang the he’s-a-liberal! (or she’s-a-liberal!) drum. Though it remains the GOP’s favorite beat, voters may not dance to it as they once did.
