To some extent - but to me what is troubling is that what they are doing is so transparent yet they believe that it is an effective strategy to attack Bush. It used to be that the mainstream media limited themselves to Orwell's most powerful form of lie - omission - yet still felt some level of obligation to ensure that the facts that they did report still held up to inspection. Now they seem to believe that they can just spout off one whopper after another, with clearly traceable conspiracies to lie to the public - and when we call them on it, they issue a non-apologetic apology that basically blames us for pointing out their lies.
I guess only time will tell whether or not this shift hurts them, although general trends indicate that they are getting hammered in the shrinking segment of centrist voters who still pay serious attention to what they are saying. My hope is that they will be reduced to preaching to the choir composed of the 40 percent or so of Americans who are liberals - but in turn that leads to a danger of an even more polarized electorate, as the respective perceived reality of the liberals drifts further away from the real-world reality that we live in. So, in the end, Saddam's WMDs are an effective weapon against America after all - by corroding the body politic because the Dems now see them as a political weapon.
Therein lies the method to their defeat: For every commercial the dems run, create a counterpart showing the dem claim and Bush actually making the statement. Ditto for the debates, let the democrat make his false claim then have the actual video of the speech cued up.
They have become so bold in their lies that it is easy to show they are lying.
My hopes are somewhat more ambitious than that -- because of the consequences you describe. I hope the liberal Democrats are metaphorically squashed like a bug. Thence, expelled from serious public discourse forever. Yet, kept caged and alive so as to exhibit their malevolence -- as in a roadside reptile farm.
My reason is the 40% figure you cited above. Remember Lincoln's imprecation: No nation divided against itself can long survive. If 40% of the population is permanently alienated and disaffected, we have little chance of surviving...without another civil war.
So long as there is a functioning liberal Democrat party -- feeding them lies, playing to their victimhood, exhorting them to hate and supporting them with tax dollars via the vehicle of Big Government -- that 40%, while it may not grow, will fester.
I guess I'm past the point of generously thinking the Democrats can no longer be trusted and must reform themselves. It's as if they've become our own version of the Ba'ath party and must be destroyed...lest they destroy America.
Somewhat apocalyptic but...there you have it. I think Teddy Kennedy might be responsible for sending me over the line.