Democrats betting on a losing hand?

The American Spectator wonders if the Democrats are strangling themselves with the Rove / Plame affair. They allowed Larry Johnson, former CIA employee and the guy who said in July, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was not a credible threat, to give their Saturday radio address. Johnson is one of a chorus of people insisting that the Rove / Plame affair has put the Republic in its most mortal danger since the shelling of Fort Sumter, or Pearl Harbor, or President Ford's tumble down the steps, or something. Not all Democrats believe this effort is time wisely spent.

"I haven't seen a single, serious poll beyond the media's that attacking Rove helps us one bit with the voters," says a Democratic House member. "No one can show me numbers. This is all the fringe people like MoveOn and even Howard Dean. It's all about not getting past 2000 and 2004. And I really fear we're going to pay for it down the road."

"My party is making a huge bet on something we really know nothing about," says the Democrat. "We don't know where this Plame thing is going to go, yet we're giving these people a huge platform. I'd rather be fighting for the issues that we know Americans care about: the environment, more of their tax dollars on national security and homeland defense. That stuff resonates at home."

In other words, Show me the numbers! And there ain't any.

Others watching this no-limit poker game:
Kevin Drum
Tom Maguire

TAGS: Democrats, Larry Johnson, Karl Rove, Valerie Plame, politics