Politicians Cast Opponents As Villains

GOP Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., seen in his in his Capitol Hill office in this Oct. 27, 2005 file photo, raised eyebrows in Aug. 2006, when he said the nation is up against faceless enemy terrorists "who drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night." Burns of Montana is facing a tough election challenge from Democrat Jon Tester. (AP Photo/Adele Starr/File) (Adele Starr - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Shadowy corporate figures who cut backroom deals. Stealthy terrorists who drive cabs by day. Immigrants who steal across the border by night.

Politicians are finding no shortage of boogeymen to associate with their opponents this campaign season.

And it turns out that some of the most popular targets of opportunity at this early stage in the elections are simply other politicians _ those whose mere mention is enough to raise partisan hairs on the backs of loyal party members.

Sure, candidates are tying their opponents to Big Oil and Islamic fascists. And to special interests and partisan bloggers. But they're also doing their best to link their rivals with the likes of George Bush and Nancy Pelosi. And Tom DeLay and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In many areas of the country, Democrats are the ones running ads that feature Bush, whose job approval ratings are stuck in the 30s.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger is for George W. Bush," intones an ad by Democrat Phil Angelides, who is hoping to unseat California's Republican governor. "Is he for you?"

Likewise, it is often Republican candidates who are eager to drop names like Pelosi, Clinton and Kerry in an attempt to associate their opponents with liberals and raise fears about what would happen if Democrats took control of Congress.

Pelosi, for example, isn't just billed as the House Democratic leader who could become speaker. She's a "partisan, obstructionist San Francisco liberal," as a spokesman for the Republican congressional campaign committee put it.

As for Democratic efforts to demonize Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, White House spokesman Tony Snow cautioned earlier this month that turning him into a "boogeyman may make for good politics but would make for very lousy strategy."

The man both sides hate, Osama bin Laden, figured prominently in Bush's Sept. 11 anniversary speeches and was quoted at length in one as the president sought to rally support for his anti-terrorism policies and, by implication, paint his party as the one to trust in these dangerous times.

Even though it's still early in the campaign season _ the time when candidates traditionally are still defining themselves and running policy-oriented ads _ both parties have installed plenty of other figures in this year's political rogue's gallery, everyone from North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il to liberal Daily Kos blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga.

The Republican National Committee last month distributed a seven-page "research briefing" on Zuniga labeling him "a partisan nutroot who turned his hate-filled blog Daily Kos into a leadership post in the Democrat Party." An RNC Internet ad included a photo montage titled "Meet the Defeat-ocrats" that showed Zuniga along with Ned Lamont, the Democrats' Senate nominee in Connecticut, filmmaker Michael Moore and other high-profile Democrats.