Did the GOP Pledge Just Bail Out the Dems?

Democrats were on the defensive about their record. Now, thanks to the GOP Pledge to America, they have a new target to attack in the run-up to the midterms.

A famous phrase politicians and their advisors ought to remember, goes something like this: "When your enemy is tying his own noose, leave him alone."

With about a month to go to Election Day, one question is whether or not the GOP has interrupted the Democrats as the Democratic leadership was tying its own noose.

Less metaphorically: are the much-discussed "Pledge to America" and the "Ryan Plan" about to become targets of opportunity for Democratic candidates on the campaign trail?

Let's review the pre-Pledge landscape:

• Obamacare exemplified over-reaching government by Democrats;
• Joblessness and the fear of more job loss dominated most voters' minds;
• Deficit and debt concerns motivated the Republican base;
• The endless war in Afghanistan demoralized the Democratic base.

In short, most Democratic candidates had the unappetizing chore of defending any number of things.  And, in politics, if you are defending, you are losing.

Prompted by a number of considerations, the Republican House last month issued its "Pledge to America," a document that on the surface was sufficiently rhetorical that it carried little danger to GOP candidates who endorsed it.  The question was whether it was wise to do anything that changed the "landscape" of the elections.

Last year, the thoughtful Congressman from Wisconsin, Paul Ryan, released his plan for reducing deficits and the nation's dangerous indebtedness.  Most notably, almost no one else in the House nor Senate GOP caucuses joined him.  Indeed, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was more enthusiastic about the plan than the House Republican Leadership.

A few courageous, or naive, GOP incumbents endorsed the plan during last year and earlier this year.  Most of those now face attacks on the plan and their endorsement of it--do you really want to privatize Social Security?  Are you going to deny Medicare benefits in the future to some of the elderly?  Do you really intend to freeze education and healthcare spending?  And, so on.

All of a sudden, Democrats can (neither honestly nor logically) connect the Ryan plan with the Pledge to America.  The result will be a wave of media advertisements accusing GOP candidates of all sorts of plans -- like those mentioned above.

In short, was the risk worth the benefit of issuing a Pledge to America.  Was endorsement by anyone of the Ryan plan wise?

One thing emerges from new media attacks by Democratic candidates -- both the Pledge and the Plan have become targets of opportunity.  Republicans now must defend those documents.

Will this attack by Democrats work?  Perhaps not, since the anti-incumbent wave seems so massive.  But, the decision to even give Democratic candidates a chance to change the subject has to be considered a risk that out-weighs any potential benefit.

It would have been wiser to allow the Democrats to continue tying their own nooses.