Feel Clever Today

Do you struggle mightily to feel clever and insightful? Do you continually hunger for "gee-whiz" moments that validate your shaky confidence in your own abilities? Feel clever today by reading the Los Angeles Times piece by Peter Wallsten under the title, "Clinton may be a target of Rove's reverse psychology":

"Their thinking went like this, Dowd explained: Democrats, in a knee-jerk reaction to GOP attacks, would rally around Kerry, whom Rove considered a comparatively weak opponent, and make him the party's nominee. Thus Bush would be spared from confronting Edwards, the candidate Republican strategists actually feared most."

I'm shocked, shocked I say that Republican strategists have looked at the Democratic field, assessed strengths and weaknesses, decided on a strong contender, recognized a weaker candidate, and then implement a strategy to draw the weaker candidate Kerry to the front of the Democratic field. That Democrats played into the scheme without recognizing it at the time speaks more to the knee-jerk reactions of the Democrats, not the quality of Republican scheming.

But alas, read and feel smart. Or not.