CON

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If Jack Davis actually wants to unseat Reynolds, he needs to start talking about these things—corruption, lies, abuses of power. But so far his only attacks on Reynolds have been about his pet issue—the loss of domestic jobs to China. This is an important matter to be sure, but it’s not one that voters really understand, and Davis doesn’t have the time or the money to undo the years of pro-globalization brainwashing that his prospective constituents have all endured. The way to beat Reynolds is not to engage him in a debate about economics; it is to simply relay the truth about what an unconscionable scumbag he really is. There is a real chance here to dethrone one of the main conduits of evil in Washington and to tilt the balance of power toward the relative sanity of a Democratic majority, and the high road is a luxury Davis can’t afford. Nobody’s going to vote for Jack Davis because they saw him awkwardly hugging kids in a commercial. That kind of patty-cake crap is over. The way to motivate people to vote for Davis is to motivate them to vote against Reynolds, to channel the animosity voters feel against the exorbitant greed and power-lust in congress that Reynolds represents so adeptly.

Davis is hardly my dream candidate for congress, and it would be easy to lament the lame choices here or that there isn’t a remotely liberal candidate in the running. But Davis only has a chance in the 26th because there’s nothing remotely liberal about him—he’s a staunch Goldwater conservative and a favorite of Lou Dobbs who advocates sealing the borders and supports “elimination of the Death Tax.” He’s no Democrat, really. But really, Reynolds is such an objectionable swine that it just doesn’t matter. And even if Tom Friedman is your favorite columnist and Milton Friedman is your favorite economist, Davis’ protectionism shouldn’t alarm you. Despite Jack’s intentions, a single cranky congressman hasn’t a chance in hell of hindering the globalization juggernaut, even in a Democratic congress.

In fact, none of that matters. There really is a single issue that trumps all others and it’s not trade or border security. Dishonesty and cheating may be a commonplace in election campaigns, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that it is the poison that’s killing representative democracy. It really doesn’t matter what you think about anything else—you simply can’t deny that Tom Reynolds is lying to you, repeatedly, deliberately and shamelessly. He thinks he can get away with it, because he thinks you’re an idiot. For god’s sake, for your own sake, don’t prove him right.