I think we are finally seeing the end-game of the Karl Rove strategy to make Republicans unelectable.

I'm reading this morning about Rudy Giuliani's radio ads that are running in Iowa.

"MoveOn.org is the most powerful left-wing group in the country. They spent millions electing anti-war liberals. And publicly brag how the Democratic Party is theirs — bought and paid for. Why is MoveOn attacking Rudy Giuliani? Because he’s their worst nightmare."

“They know Rudy is a Republican who can beat the Democrats. And they know, no matter what they say — Rudy will never, ever back down.”

Where to even begin? This idea of "never backing down" seems to me part and parcel with the Bush strategy of making up his mind and never being willing to second-guess his own decisions. I think we can see how that strategy has served the country well - not.

Even worse though is this idea of pandering to the base once again. Karl Rove perfected this strategy in 2004 when everyone thought that John Kerry would win. Instead of vying for those in the middle, undecideds, and independents, the Bush campaign focused almost exclusively on the base. This strategy works until your base starts to erode.

So in order to fire up the base, Rudy tells them that the dreaded "liberals", folks like MoveOn.org, will hate him. But what other message does this send? Rudy is essentially saying that he doesn't intend to represent the entire country and that he is going to ignore those who disagree with him.

I know that it has become gospel truth among some conservatives that those who oppose the War in Iraq and our continuing presence there are extreme leftists. While that may have been partially true at the beginning, it certainly isn't anymore. There are broad swaths of conservatives who are now anguished over the situation and regret that we ever went into Iraq.

Is Rudy saying he is going to be a nightmare for those of us now skeptical about staying in Iraq? The base is becoming smaller and smaller.