Change Is In The Air

In what may be an ominous sign of things to come for Congressional Republicans, they lost another special election in Mississippi last week. This was in a traditionally strong Republican district, but yet it was won by a Democrat despite a strong effort by the GOP. National party leaders went as far as to run ads saying that a vote for the Democrat was essentially a vote for Obama.

Keep in mind this was in Mississippi, so it's fairly safe the Republicans were trying a backhanded approach to remind people that Osama is--GASP!!!--black. To their credit, most voters didn't take the bait.

That strategy, however, did not have unanimous backing among Republicans. One GOP congressman, Tom Davis of Virginia, questioned the attempt to bring Obama's name into the Mississippi campaign.

"When Bush tries to articulate a vision," Davis said, pausing to choose his words carefully, "he will butcher the Gettysburg Address. Obama, he will make an A&P grocery list sing."

In an effort to re-brand the party, desperate Republican leaders yesterday came up with a new slogan: "The Change You Deserve." This was met with ridicule as other Republicans that it sounds an awful lot like Obama's own "Change We Can Believe In" catchphrase. It also seems to ignore the fact that prior to 2006, Reblicans had controlled the House of Representatives for 12 years, and have held the White House since 2001. So if Republicans are admitting that Americans want change, then it seems they're telling people to vote for more Democrats.