Once again, the Senate failed to pass a measure to bring our troops home and end the occupation of Iraq. This time, Democrats led by Carl Levin and Jack Reed couldn’t even muster 50 votes, much less the 60 needed to bring the bill to a final vote, but landed in a 47-47 tie. The constant failure to pick up Republican votes, and the continued refusal of Senate Democrats to seem willing to compromise, might seem like a sign of stubborn weakness matching only a similar set of traits at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. On the other hand…

Could there be a method to this madness?

For a long time political insiders have understood that the easiest way to win an election is to allow your opponents to block a popular initiative and then blame them for the failure. This “failure and blame” strategy was spectacularly employed by Harry Truman to win reelection in 1948 by attacking the “do-nothing Congress.”  read more »