Pardon the Language

Good news: Eleanor Clift has a plan for the Democrats to hold on to Congress! Bad news: It’s even lamer than you dreamed it could be! But my job is to find these anti-nuggets and share them with you. So, in Clift’s own words —

•The base has to get re–fired up. Recently Obama has been drawing big crowds reminiscent of the heady days of ’08. He has to keep at it.

This is the kind of advice you’d expect to read, say, last summer — not in a column dated exactly one week before campaigning ends. It’s a bit like telling the guy on life support that he should think about wearing his seatbelt. Also, Clift thinks this needs to be said? What advice does she think Obama is getting? “Rest up, buddy — it’s only an election.” Criminy.

•Obama must do more in the next week to make his economic case, and to clarify the choice facing voters: which party and which candidate has a reasonable chance of making things better?

This is like telling the heroin addict to shoot up. Obama is the most overexposed celebrity since Paris Hilton, only without the heft. He gave more than 50 major speeches and addresses to sell Obamacare, and it has lost popularity, not gained it. And with disapproval at or around 50%, it must be said: The thrill is gone.

•In just about every Democratic campaign I’ve covered, the closing debate comes down to the people versus the powerful.

And in this election, like all the other ones Clift has covered, the Democrats’ closing debate is horseshit. The difference is, this time people have finally tired of eating it.