How to get ahead in politics without really trying

Well, David Limbaugh is angry. That seems to be a common thread in articles by David Limbaugh.

This time he's upset because a Democrat, namely John Edwards, is getting credit for running a positive campaign. Nothing, apparently, could be further from the truth. Some Edwards campaign person printed up a list of ways for door to door campaigners to trash the other candidates. Edwards denied knowing about them and called on his staff to not do anything like that again.

But, of course, that's not Limbaugh's main point. "Well, I certainly believe that Edwards is conducting a negative campaign, but not in the way his opponents mean it. His message is not one of hope and optimism but abject class warfare, characterizing America as two different countries, one for the haves and the other for the have-nots. He doesn't appeal to people's hope and optimism but their despair and envy. He talks not of an American dream, of America as a land of opportunity, but as a place where the less fortunate can only improve their lot through the coercive power of a socialistic, wealth-redistributing government.

. . . Senator Edwards, from what I can tell, has not been exposed as a dirty campaigner, but as a phony pretender to optimism. There is nothing positive about his message. Lurking behind that smile is a destructive message that, if implemented, would devastate America."

Well, a couple of assumptions one can make from this statement.

1. Limbaugh has spent little to no time studying Edwards actual platform. He knows that most of his audience won't bother reading it either, so he can just characterize it as class warfare and watered down Marxism and they'll buy it.

2. Limbaugh would love it if we all accepted the idea that campaigning against President Bush's record is negative campaigning. He'd also love it if we accepted the idea that talking about social inequality in America is negative campaigning. Personally I'd love it if Baskin Robbins decided that 31 cents was a good price for everything they sell, but I've resigned myself to reality.

Perhaps Mr. Limbaugh should adopt a similar approach.