Elizabeth Dole's Symptoms

Incumbent Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole is in deep trouble. Behind in the polls in her re-election campaign in North Carolina, she finds herself under fire for releasing what some are calling a new low in political advertising. In the ad, she accuses her rival, Democratic State Senator Kay Hagan, of associating with "Godless Americans." While Hagan did meet with an atheist group that promotes separation of church and state in government, the ad goes on to float an unattributed female voice-over that proclaims "there is no God." By implication, viewers are meant to infer that the voice is Hagan's. It isn't. In reality, Hagen is a regular church-goer and a Sunday school teacher, and Dole nicely handed her the opportunity to remind North Carolina of those facts. Here's how the controversy was reported at CNN:



The predicament Dole finds herself in is not unique. In a way, it is a microcosm of larger GOP woes. The issues, you see, just don't favor the Republicans this year. So, as John McCain and Sarah Palin have illustrated, the election strategy has been calibrated to emphasize name-calling and guilt-by-association attacks. Of course, in the process of such attacks, the attacker ends up shredding his or her own favorability ratings, and ends up doing more harm than good.

There's also another factor at work. Call it the McCain drag. In fact, as Politico reports, several Congressional races have been made tougher by the presence of John McCain on this year's ballot. With coat-tails like these, who needs enemies?

With less than a week to go until Election Day, some congressional Republicans are complaining that John McCain isn't doing more to help them avoid massive losses. Others are just hoping that he stays the heck away.

An upset of Dole would be particularly sweet for Democrats, but it would further signal the American public's impatience with the current mudslinging approach to politics. Some might even ask, what's wrong with meeting with atheists, whether or not you happen to be one yourself? There are plenty of religious leaders out there who also promote a separation of church and state. Does Dole believe that atheists should somehow not participate in the political process? That they should be quarantined?

More fear. More slicing and dicing of the electorate courtesy of the party that Rove built. Maybe it will learn its lesson next Tuesday.