You know what they do to messengers

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is trying to offer some helpful advice to all of the GOP hopefuls running for election this coming November. He suggests that, to help win the election, the candidates should focus on things like tax cuts, and the drop in the price of gas.

Although it wouldn't seem like it needed to be said, Frist is also suggesting that GOP candidates don't talk about the war in Iraq, or the "terror issue".

Well, duh. After all, when you're running for office, and belong to a certain political party, why would you even consider bringing up points of conversation where it's fairly obvious your party leaders have made mistakes. Severe mistakes. Of course you should focus on the good things that you're party has done. It's almost as though Frist is going to a fraternity house and saying, "Guys, when advertising your next party, feel free to talk about the beer and games that are played. But, if I were you, I wouldn't mention the hazing or date rape."

The Democrats, of course, should be jumping all over this concept, if they want to win the Congress this November. After all, if the Senate Majority leader is telling his constituents to avoid talking about a certain issue because of how the GOP has handled it, why not make a different tactic on those issues a cornerstone of your campaigns? Of course, the Democrats, at least in Minnesota, are too busy defending themselves against some fairly outrageous claims (and some accurate ones, like the desire to repeal the tax breaks on the extremely wealthy) to even consider going on the offensive with something like this.

Which, of course, means that we're left waiting until the election, as one party doesn't want to talk about some of the biggest blights on our country in recent decades, and the other party is too dazed by all of the wadded-up pieces of Kleenex thrown their way to figure out how to mobilize even their plastic army figures.

But hey, thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, I can track my home election results from the comfort of my own blog. So can you, if you want. Hooray to widgets.