Republicans have been known, from time to time, to use the politics of fear to get ahead. That, of course, includes scaring the bejeezus out of their own rank-and-file supporters, in order to get them to open their checkbooks.

But former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) seems to have laid it on pretty thick in his latest email missive on behalf of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, sent this week. The subject line read, “Democrats Win Landslide Victory.”

I have a real fear of waking up to this headline after the elections this fall. Make no mistake about it: If our grassroots teams fail to come together and work as hard as they did in 2000, 2002 and 2004, that headline could very likely be the result! In key states, news accounts indicate Democrats are outpacing Republicans registering voters. We also know Barack Obama’s campaign is utilizing the Internet to raise record amounts of money to support his campaign and Democrats nationally ... all in the hope that new voters and record resources will produce a Democrat landslide victory this fall. There’s so much at risk, and conservatives I talk with from all across the country are feeling the rumblings of “what could be.”

Now, I’m obviously not the target audience of Frist’s message, but if I were a DSCC donor, and Chuck Schumer sent me an email about John McCain doing a great job registering voters, raising money, and rallying legions of supporters, all of which points to a Republican “landslide,” I might feel a little discouraged.



The New Yorker’s Hendrick Hertzberg offered some psychoanalytic observations about the email’s author.