SIGN OF THE TIMES – AT 8:11 A.M. ET:  Democrat?  You think I'm a Democrat?  I'm insulted!

That pretty much sums up the approach of some Democratic candidates running for Congress this year.   It's understable in places like the Midwest, where job loss has resulted in real anger at the Dems.  But denying the Democratic heritage is now occurring in places like New York.  We haven't heard the word "heretic" yet, but don't be shocked to see some Dems burnt at the stake for their blasphemy.  From The New York Times:

One New York Democrat proclaims that he proudly opposed the federal government’s health care overhaul plan. Another one pledges, in the finest Tea Party spirit, to oppose any future financial bailouts. Still another has rolled out three Republicans in three separate commercials, all vouching for his credentials.

But there is one word you will not hear mentioned in any of these campaign advertisements: Democrat.

With the Democratic Party bracing for a dismal showing in the elections next month, many candidates are doing everything possible to convince voters that they are not tied at the hip to President Obama or Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker. A vulnerable Democratic incumbent in North Dakota, Representative Earl Pomeroy, praises former President George W. Bush in one of his commercials. But even Democrats in and near New York State are running away from their party.

“In a year of insurgency and anti-incumbency, being a Republican in New York State is, for the first time in a long time, not a bad thing, because being a Democrat implies you’re an incumbent,” Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic consultant, said.

COMMENT:  Dropping the Dem label, at least in polite speech, is also an attempt by some Democrats to de-nationalize the election and make it local.  Democrats just don't want to be associated with the unpopular Barack Obama.  They do better when they run as the local boy or girl who made good.

October 5, 2010