Turning Gold Into Granite

The Opposition faction in government has a golden opportunity to take the majority in at least one house of Congress. However, they have resorted to tactics which may cause them to lose that opportunity.
Writing from a neutral standpoint when it comes to political tactics used by the two factions of the Demopublican Party, lets us see things that are almost laughable. The newest campaign by the opposition is rife with conspiracy theories, hindsight, and propaganda, as in reporting only that part of the whole that is convenient to the message.
The opposition wing has resorted to borrowing a page from the John Birch Society and other right wing conspiracy theorists in creating a theoretical right wing conspiracy organization. This document in highly reminiscent of the Extreme Right's "Trilateral Commission" conspiracy theory of the 70's, 80's, and 90's. To think that such an organization as the Project for a New American Century would have an influence on President Clinton is almost laughable, especially since Clinton himself vehemently resisted the notion that he caved to right wing influence in his mission against Usama Bin Ladin.
On Chris Wallace's "Fox News Sunday," Clinton forcefully attacked Wallace and accused Fox and the "Right Wing" of trying to smear his administration, just for asking about Clinton's alleged softness in going after Bin Ladin.

Then, there is the propaganda arising from the national intelligence estimate that the war on Iraq is resulting in a higher recruitment rate for the Muslim extremists. The reality of this information is that this effect was predicted, even before the removal of Saddam, and the idea was to face the enemy on the battlefield rather than in the streets of our cities. While it is true that Iraq is the basis for a recruiting point for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, it only emphasis the need for a successful outcome of the current mission. John Negroponte, the National Security Advisor, while unable to discuss the content of the classified document, has said that the report concludes that the terrorist situation would be greatly increased if the US Coalition mission in Iraq were to be curtailed without success. Of course, the New York Times and the Washington Post did not report the conclusion reached by the assessment, as it was not convenient to the message they were trying to deliver.
The biggest problem with these tactics by the Opposition wing of the Demopublican party is that it is hindsight. That faction is trying to say they want to move forward, yet they are drawing all the attention to the past. They insist on viewing the war on terror from 2003 rather than the present. The current mission of the armed forces in Iraq is not to fight Iraqis, but to train an Iraqi military and police force, and to ensure that the Iraq Democracy will be able to stand on its own against its enemies. The current military mission and objective has very little to do with why we invaded Iraq in the first place. A free and democratic Iraq is the last thing those who have sworn to destroy Western civilization want to see.
The Opposition faction needs to deliver a viable alternative in order to be effective. Mudslinging and misinformation often backfires on the originator of such tactics, no matter if it originates on the Right or the Left. The Opposition is totally ignoring the fact that the real war on terror is being fought diplomatically rather than with arms. Because of diplomatic agreements, for instance, shipping containers are being inspected at the point of origin, which is much more efficient both practically and economically than trying to inspect two million containers a day at the point of debarkation. The Opposition would do well to face reality, rather than creating disinformation.