The busses filled with detained migrant children are en route to the polls and John Podesta is coordinating with Vladimir Putin as Ohio's 12th District special election ramps up. It's been a pure playbook of desperation as Democrat Danny O'Connor is up against a tremendously popular president and a thoroughly competent Republican candidate whose profile is buoyed by his close friendship with totally non-scandal ridden fellow Ohio Republican Jim Jordan who was never told by any OSU wrestlers about rampant sexual abuse by a school doctor.

Astute political watchers know that this is a Democrat district that Crooked Hillary won hands down in the 2016 election. In spite of this, the fake, fake, crooked... fake news claims a Democrat win would be an upset. Polls open 8 am Wednesday August 8.

Peter Strzok DESTROYED the Party of Alex Jones Today. He was eloquent, respectful, and unshakeable. Democratic members of the committee were stellar, from demonstrating the GOP's own bias against Trump to reminding us that criminal findings of the Mueller investigation have nothing to do with Strzok's political bias.

I just regret the chutzpah we saw by Democratic committee members will not be distilled down into productive Democratic messaging because, well, that's just not what we do. We'll get some statesmanlike sober comments from Adam Schiff who is good at repeating the news of the day, but seems to have zero interest in creating and controlling a message to susceptible voters (suburban white women). Those susceptible voters have preconceived notions of the AJP (Alex Jones Party), but to exploit those notions, we need to be PR people and not just prosecutors. How hard is it to call the GOP the Party of Alex Jones? Even if they don't know who Alex Jones is, there is an implication of inferiority that will put your Raul Labradors and Mitch McConnells on defense.

This is not a disavowal of ground game or remaining true to progressive values, not by any means. This is about taking away the one appeal the MAGAs have to swing voters. Swingers respect power and control. They are not politically sophisticated, but they can tell who has the rhetorical upper hand. Trump repeats that he is a victim of a political witch hunt and as a direct result, more people are of the opinion that Mueller has a political bias against Trump. We will always lose when we don't show up to play. So...

Peter Strzok DESTROYED the party of Alex Jones today.

It would be great to hear Dems come out every day and refuse to agree to anything on immigration until all the families that have been wrongly separated have been reunited. If the parents have been deported, they should be able to find their children through American embassies and consulates. If they are being detained here, their children should be brought to them. Until then, Dems should do everything to make white suburban woman reflect on how they would feel having their children taken away for the crime of trying to keep them safe.

I beg the Democratic leadership not to let this issue die while toddlers remain in Gopper jail ON THE TAXPAYER'S DIME!

Mother Jones' David Corn just published a piece sounding the alarm at how Trump is winning the messaging war in the Russia investigation because there is no sufficient rhetorical opposition. It's not so much that there is no pushback. There is no rhetorical offense. But it's not just in the case of Russian collusion. Democrats are out-messaged for lack of going on coordinated offense 100% of the time.

Let's take a page from the book of Gopper messaging. No - Let's take the entire book. With nothing to offer, Goppers put negative spin on every move Democrats make with quick denigrating phrases that seep down to those white suburban women who literally swing in the balance. Suburbanites were soaking up Gopper messaging on Obamacare before Obamacare even became law which helped to shift House leadership to Gopper hands. Goppers have a simple offensive phrase for everything Dems support with the purpose of sowing doubt in the Dem agenda.

Dems, on the other hand do have an agenda, but we have no messaging. While it's so easy, it's never done. It's VEXING. No safe Dem should talk about the Trump Administration without mentioning how Americans are tired of the DAILY CORRUPTION, LIES, AND COVERUPS. It's so easy.

No Dem should avoid the opportunity to talk about the MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE passed by Goppers which PUNISHES THE MIDDLE CLASS FOR MAKING LESS MONEY. It's so easy!

No one should talk about and White House officials and their Congressional allies without referring to them as CONSPIRATORS where applicable. It's so easy!

No Dem should talk about agenda and vision for the future without talking about THE MORAL HERITAGE OF OUR COUNTRY. We should own it. It's so easy.

Goppers never lost points by using rhetoric to undermine voter faith in Democrats and the Democratic Party. They are the only ones playing on that field. Yes, we need Adam Schiff to explain the legal ins and outs of Gopper corruption, but we also need to frame what we would want the typical suburban white voter to parrot to their friends. Whose message do we want them to repeat - ours or theirs?

Should we be going on offense on points in the Russia investigation? Yes. That would be a great place to START.

That's about what you can expect from a Trump a supporter.

Late last year I posted a vlog responding to what I heard many of my conservative friends parrot on Facebook about the peaceful protests conducted by NFL players. As I hinted in the video, Fox News had done its job by arming its watchers with talking points that sound on point if you're inclined to think you are the least bit supreme to others. One of the points I addressed was the notion that these Fox Newsers have been mistakenly under the impression that only their families have spilled blood for the American flag.

I would like to deliver a special salute to those who have sacrificed for an America that has historically been less than grateful. They fought for the freedoms of Americans who today think that people of color landed on planet Earth last week. Thanks to the immigrants who have shed blood for Americans who would then have those heroic fighters' caskets deported in the name of their twisted concept of America. Thanks to those who know what it means to fight for liberty and justice for all.

In 2010, goppers worked overtime to turn Americans against Obamacare. Those efforts in partnership with gerrymandering won them a house majority. Wouldn’t it be nice if Dems running in 2018 did the same thing with the only legislative "win" the GOP has had since 2016? Goppers have held onto the hope that a tax cut (for the rich) would be their saving grace in a year that would otherwise not be promising for them. Not only should their tax bill not help them, DEMOCRATS SHOULD USE IT AGAINST THEM! A good place to start is rebranding this GOP catastrophe. It should not be referred to as a tax bill but as THE REPUBLICANS’ MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE. It would also be nice to hear progressive candidates expound on their attack in different ways including, but not restricted to these messages below:

-My opponent stood with Donald Trump and Paul Ryan to pass THE REPUBLICANS’ MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE so rich people could get tax relief. Now they want to pay for it by taking away your health care.

-My opponent voted for Trump’s MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE so rich people could get a huge tax break. Even rich people, both REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS said “don’t raise the deficit to give me a tax cut, I don’t need it.” But Republicans like my opponent went ahead and passed it anyway and now you and I are stuck with the bill.

-My opponent supported THE REPUBLICANS’ MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE and said that we would immediately start seeing results. We’re seeing results alright. They cut education funding and now we have teachers marching in the streets. They cut Homeland Security which funds our first responders. They cut the State Department which exercises our interest throughout the world. They cut the Department of Transportation that’s responsible for our infrastructure. We’re less safe, but my opponent got his/her MASSIVE DEFICIT HIKE on the backs of the American people.

This is not intended as tactic in a one-issue campaign. It is one prong in the attack on a party that assaults the middle class in the name of championing the middle class. Politics is a product. It needs to be marketed and in hyping your product, sometimes you need to dictate how others see the competitor. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democratic Party was as good at that as goppers?

If there is a lesson from McCaingate, it is that the “tone” problem in Washington is owned by Republicans. It has nothing to do with Democrats. Elected Republicans are either tearing each other apart or tearing their hair out trying manage a party whose leader plays to the cheap seats with childish antics and a twisted notion that character is a sign of weakness. Still most of those elected Republicans, some of whom are decent try to mitigate their responsibility by falsely claiming “both sides need to dial down the rhetoric.” When pressed to state what Democrats have to apologize for, they would struggle to dig up Kathy Griffin’s crude photoshoot from a year ago, or Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” remark. Both women apologized by the way. While Steve Schmidt deserves credit for going after his party for its complicity in the debasing of our politics, it would be so much more clear if he said the words “it’s not both sides.” That would really be nice.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could depend on more than massive Republican failure to elect and keep Democratic majorities in Congress? It takes far less for Republican “waves” to occur and it is unfortunately by design. Republican majorities are more enduring in the era of the truth-free right-wing supremacist message machine that was ushered in by Rush Limbaugh and capped off by Fox News. That is how a woman like Nancy Pelosi has so easily become an election issue in districts thousands of miles away from her own.

The effective negative branding of Pelosi was not the work of desperate GOPers alone. It took the compliance of countless Democrats by not only refusing to defend her, but by joining in the GOPer public refrain against her. While it’s true that Democratic candidates don’t have a Fox News equivalent to dictate their talking points, adept politicians shouldn’t need one. Politics is about fighting and if you are cowed by smears of someone as competent and beneficial as Nancy Pelosi, maybe politics isn’t your bag.

That being said, wouldn’t it be nice if all Democrats running in districts across the country actually turned the attacks on Nancy Pelosi against their opponents. Imagine hearing any of this messaging in the highly adaptable stump scripts that follow:

- I know why my opponent doesn’t like Nancy Pelosi because Nancy Pelosi got the Affordable Care Act passed through Congress. My opponent has been doing everything s/he can to repeal the Affordable Care Act instead of make it better. I’m for making the Affordable Care Act better and I’ll work with any Republican or Democrat who supports that and if that means working with Nancy Pelosi for the good of the people of (insert state or district here) then so be it. Where does my opponent stand on strengthening the Affordable Care Act for the people of (whatever state or district)?
(This tack can also be used citing consumer financial protection, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, food safety, and tobacco regulation)

- As I talk to people in the district, I haven’t spoken with one person whose life has been negatively impacted in any way by Nancy Pelosi. My opponent, on the other hand partnered with Paul Ryan in passing a record-setting deficit hike on the backs of the American people because SOME ultra-rich folks don't want to pay their fair share in taxes. My opponent and Paul Ryan passed this hit job on the American people and now Paul Ryan is bailing out of Congress. Where does my opponent currently stand on Paul Ryan’s deficit hike?

- I’ve heard this whole Nancy Pelosi thing many times on Fox News. I do watch Fox. But I find it odd I’m being accused of taking orders or talking points from Nancy Pelosi and out of state interests. That’s ironic because my opponent is taking marching orders from cable news guests. I’ve talked to teachers who pay out of pocket for school supplies. I’ve talked to people who need to keep their insurance affordable. I’ve talked to people whose jobs are being offshored. I’m talking about their stories and not the stories I hear on television. If my opponent wants to go run against nancy Pelosi, be my guest. Her district is thousands of miles away. I’ll buy her/him the ticket.

- I will support for my party’s leadership whoever supports the people of my district earn fair wages, get a decent education, and live without having to worry that their children will get home from school safely. We need to get things done here at home. That’s what I’m going to Washington to do and you don’t do that by making promises not to work with people. That’s not very resourceful. It’s vindictive, but it’s not very resourceful. I’m going to Washington to be resourceful for my constituents, not to be vindictive.

- My opponent seems to have a Nancy Pelosi obsession. What do you know about Nancy Pelosi? Is there a secret Access Hollywood tape with her confessing to a felony? Are there any fraud judgments against her? Has she made any secret payments to porn stars? Has she ever been the target or subject of a federal investigation involving conspiring with foreign nations to interfere with our elections? Do members of her own party call her a liar? I don’t think so. Maybe that’s why my opponent doesn’t like her.

Pelosi is not perfect. She has her warts. She is not the complete package, but she has been the most effective House Speaker in recent history and what has she got for it? Knives in the back. Dems who join the witch hunt against Pelosi simply based on the fabricated narrative created by people who yearn to capitalize on deep-seated ageism/sexism demonstrate themselves to be weak and anything but progressive. The wind is still at the back of people who win by resorting to tribal notions of white alpha male superiority which exists across the political spectrum. It will continue to be that way until we acknowledge it and then use it to play some political jiu jitsu. Otherwise, we continue to allow not being an able-bodied, Christian, straight, white male to be a political liability. Imagine doing something to end that thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice?