When campaign finance reform passed and became law, I was curious why it received such acclaim, particularly from the Democrats. This bill, if you recall, bans “soft money” (unlimited campaign contributions to political parties), and prevents “issue” ads by “special interest groups” that mention a candidate just prior to an election. Why I asked, would the Democrats be in favor of this, and what do they have up their sleeve to get around it?

It seems the answers are in. It’s a cunning strategy, which relies on willing accomplices on the liberal left in the media, Hollywood, and wealthy individuals willing to pony up their own money to run their own anti-Bush campaigns independent of the party apparatus. How successful will it be? That remains to be seen.

Have you noticed the sudden rash of Bush-bashing books that have appeared in the nation’s bookstores? The actual number of people who read the books may be small, compared to the general population. But the number who know about them is much larger, given the play they have received in the news media and talking head shows. What is really important here is not so much what they books say, it’s what people say the books say, since most people won’t actually read them in any event. And like the “rumor” game many of us played as children, where one person tells someone something, and they pass it along through a dozen or so others, with the last person telling what they heard, what many come away from isn’t actually what was printed, even assuming what was printed was accurate in the first place.

But first impressions are what counts. And one can say pretty much what one wants to about a public person, particularly if it is attributed to an “anonymous source”.

Then there are people like billionaire George Soros, one of the world’s richest men, who has made it his personal project to unseat President Bush, contributing so far over $15.5 million of his own money to do so. He isn’t donating it to the Democrats, rather he is helping to finance an “independent” anti-Bush media campaigns, such as that sponsored by MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group. If money is the final determinant of who wins the election, then Mr. Soros may be the key factor. He has pledged to pony up “whatever it takes” to do so. In the past, he has given away nearly $5 billion promoting democracy in the former Soviet bloc.

Finally, there is Hollywood. Expect to see a series of big-budget motion pictures with themes that are anti-Bush in nature. Such as the upcoming $125 million disaster film “The Day After Tomorrow”, scheduled to open May 28th. This movie deals with a sudden ice age, triggered by global warming. (Global warming causes the ocean currents to shift, setting off an instant ice age.) This is all due to the actions of a bumbling American president who refuses to listen to the dire warnings put forth by the environmentalists, and his Dick Cheney look-alike vice president who scoffs at all the warnings even as disaster breaks out all around.

There is nothing wrong with any of this, of course. It’s all just coincidence, and none of it is paid for or coordinated by the national Democrat party.

Let a Republican say anything of course, and its all part of a vast conspiracy, led by that bumbling sub-moron George Bush, who despite having a room-temperature IQ, is able to mastermind a huge spider-web of covert activity designed specifically to lead the world into a fascist utopia that only the liberal left is aware of. Democrat comments are merely commentary on obvious fact, while any Republican rejoinders are met with cries of “call off your attack dogs!”

It’s good to have a plan, and the Dems obviously have one. As usual, the Republicans are two steps behind, scratching their heads, and wondering where that truck that just ran them over came from.