Just about every major poll and political prognosticator is indicating that Republicans stand to benefit from a wave in the November elections--possibly bigger than the one that handed them control of Congress after the 1994 elections. Democrats appear helpless to stop them. So it is the height of stupidity, if you ask me, for Republican "operatives" (term used loosely here) to engage in what they seem to think are devious Machiavellian schemes that in fact undermine their chances. I'm talking about people like the bozo Rand Paul staffer caught posing as a concerned progressive who was trying to tamp down liberal support for Paul's opponent, Jack Conway; and also Steve May, the genius from Arizona who registered homeless people as Green Party candidates in a bid to hurt Democrats.

These kinds of juvenile ploys are dumb because they rarely make a difference when they go undetected. Usually, of course, they do get detected, because--let's face it--they tend to be undertaken by people who possess delusions of Rove-ism and Clouseau-like ineptitude--and thereby provide voters a compelling reason to doubt that Republicans really are a better alternative.