I am about to make a confession, and I hope you'll all forgive me:
I read Bill Kristol today. And I actually found something useful in what he had to say.
It came in his latest ramblings in the Weekly Standard, in which he lamely attempted to convice the Kool-Aid drinkers that victory was nigh. Gore-Lieberman gained 6 points in two weeks and Ford-Dole cut into a 20-point deficit, he reasoned, so why worry?
(Ol' Bill doesn't remind readers what ultimately happened to those tickets, but being honest and truthful was never one of his strong suits.)
Then, Kristol makes a rather interesting point:
Despair is what the Obama campaign is hoping and working for. If a campaign can convince supporters of the other candidate that the race is effectively over, the enthusiasm and volunteer efforts drop off--as does, ultimately, their turnout on Election Day. Just as important, undecided and loosely affiliated voters become persuaded there's no real contest and lose any incentive to look closely at the candidates.
Now, lately we've seen a lot of comments and diaries exhorting us not to become complacent. And that's quite a valid point -- unless the Obama wave of voters actually shows up to vote, all of those pretty polls won't mean squat.
To use a football analogy, we don't want to pull a DeSean Jackson, chucking away the football at the 1 yard line as we coast in for an easy score.
But.
Caution is an attitude best shared among the Democratic family. Out there, we should have another goal -- crush any last remaining embers of hope the other guys have of winning.
We shouldn't do it in a mean-spirited kind of way; that's the kind of taunting that might motivate people. But subtle, concern trollish reminders about how Obama's running away with the race? Perfect.
Know any die-hard Republicans? Make sure they're kept appraised of the latest daily tracking polls and battleground states. Get them acquainted with Nate Silver's Fivethirtyeight.com, and watch them grow disgusted as Obama's projected Electoral College lead continues to grow.
(If your Republican friend/family member/colleague is over 65, you might also want to remind them that McCain is proposing to cut $1.3 trillion from Medicare over the next 10 years. Enjoy as their heads explode.)
Those Republican trolls that infest the message boards of your local newspaper? Throw a little smack back at 'em -- like when you start taunting fans of the other team when they're getting blown out with the chant: "Scoreboard!" My favorite tactic is to respond to the resident trolls by simply posting the latest poll numbers. They usually disappear after that.
Come across any McCain volunteers? Throw a little concern trolling their way. (Example: "I really have to give you credit, working your tail off like this when your guy is trailing so badly. I don't know if I could get myself that motivated if I was in your spot.")
The goal is simple... get as many wingers as possible so despondent and disgusted that they simply give up -- no more volunteering, no more money, no votes. That attitude spreads like a virus, rippling its pervasive damage down to every Republican candidate.
Here's what winger surrender sounds like, from Charles Krauthammer:
[Obama's] got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president.
Despair and despondency are self-fulfilling attitudes. As more wingers throw in the towel, money starts drying up and polls become even messier, convincing even more Republicans to go into hiding until the election's over.
And as far as Democrats and undecideds go? The message is simple:
This is shaping up to be one of the most decisive elections in American history. Don't you want to be a part of history being made?
Many people are by nature bandwagoners; they like to be on the winning team. These are the people who were obnoxious Chicago Bulls fans in the '90s, professed undying love for the Yankees at the height of their dynasty, and are now probably effusive in their love for the Dallas Cowboys.
Yes, true die-hard fans find such people obnoxious. But there's no denying the pull of the bandwagon. And it's time to put that pull to work for us.
History's about to be made, and you can be a part of it.
Within my family, only my wife and I voted in 2004. Our four family members in town sat that one out.
This time, every last one of us has registered. It was quite a happy experience to turn in the last of their voter registration forms at the local Obama office this Saturday.
They are beyond excited about the opportunity to vote for Obama... it's all they can talk about these days! I've already promised that we'll all be making a trip to the mall on the first weekend of early voting, as we cast a bloc of six votes for Barack.
I'm sure there's millions of others out there just like them. We get them to the polls to follow through, and folks, this will be a crushing blowout.
So forgive me, but I think a little smack-talking is long overdue -- not for celebratory reasons, but for strategic ones.
The day the other side gives up and walks off the field is the day this election is truly over. Let's give them a shove toward the locker room.