Karl Rove seems otherwisely distracted.

* i've written a bit recently about the oddity that the repug message machine's best shot-in-the-dark now appears to be a GOTV effort based on the message that the evil dems will have INVESTIGATIONS! if they win in Nov - sometimes, but not always, mentioning the dreaded impeachment-word. (remember a few months ago when we couldnt even say that and we had to call it the "I-word"? does politics now run in internet time? did i have something to do with that?)

Two problems with this message:
a) it's definitely not a Dred Scott dogwhistle like we saw in the debates - everyone is hearing this message loud & clear, ergo the repugs are apparently assuming that this message is useful at the margin.
b) at the same time, they are trying to argue that i) approval rating for congress are even lower than the presidents' ii) it's a bipartisan wash because libby-cheney-bush- ney-rove-abramoff- plame- Duke-Goss-foggo-tobin-rumsfeld-haliburton = cynthiamckinney + pat kennedy.

So you can see the corner they are painting themselves into. On one hand they are trying to suppress the congressional vote by saying that everyone hates congress, and btw, the dems are just as bad (leaving aside the validity of that for the mo) - which is a general dont-GOTV campaign, and on the flipside they are basically saying that the 06 elections will be a referendum on Bush - because 'everyone hates congress'. That's a very, very fine line they are trying to thread - particularly when their 'very much dont like' numbers against Bush are about twice as high as the 'very much do like' for him. And the 'very much dont like' numbers are growing by % points every week.

Curiously, they've kept their powder dry - so far - on making the logical leap from 'the dems will investigate' to 'we won't be able to govern if we get bogged down in investigations.' I've argued repeatedly before that as much as I'd like to see the entire egadministration impeached (and at The Hague), I'd be somewhat satisfied if the whole thing just got put on ice (and impeachment hearings might achieve that). If I had to choose between "Do no more harm" and retribution, I'd absolutely choose the former.

My point tho - is that the RNC talkingpoints, for some reason, haven't yet got beyond "investigations!" (with a side dish of impeachment). They haven't even argued that investigations are bad because they'll (presumably) undermine the ability of the egadministration to 'govern' (if that is what they are currently doing) - or that 'impeachment would mean that the terrorists have won' - or even that we can't change horses mid-apocalypse (which is what they argued loudly in 04). In fact, they barely even bring up the argument that impeachment might be payback for the clinton impeachment.

I'm sure that you could find isolated examples of all of the above - but they definitely haven't burst onto the Fox News ticker - so why not? I can only guess two things: a) they are keeping some powder dry cos its going to be a long six months b) they are too scared to explain why INVESTIGATIONS! are bad - because there's nothing left under the hood. They dont have a plan other than to scream INVESTIGATIONS! - perhaps because Karl Rove et al are otherwisely distracted.