(I’m curious to see what the boogeyman actually looks like. If you are too, donate or volunteer to any one of our fine supported local candidates in the middle column. -btp)

Jim McDermott really nailed it over at huffingtonpost.

The Republican Party will spend the next 30 days trying to make you afraid. It is the Republican midterm election strategy.

For the rest of September, until the moment Republican leaders gavel the Congress into adjournment, Republican speakers will rise and implore the American people to be afraid.

Republicans will call it security, and every time they do, just remember they are speaking in code. Republicans really mean insecurity.

Republicans have been doing this for so long, it’s hard to remember a time when they used a different strategy. But alas, too often the American people have fallen for it. I hope they’ve become wiser recently. This topic also relates somewhat to Kevin Drum’s post yesterday

When Krushchev banged his shoe at the UN and promised to bury us, we thought he meant every word of it. And plenty of people were convinced that it was useless to negotiate with such a regime. At the time, a lot of people viewed Krushchev and the Soviets exactly the way the neocons view Ahmadinejad and the Iranians today.In the 1980s, neocons were aghast that Reagan thought he could negotiate with the Soviets. He proved them wrong. Four years ago it was Saddam Hussein who couldn’t be boxed in. That turned out to be wrong too. He sputtered and blustered, but in the end we found out that sanctions and no-fly zones had scared him pretty well after all.And now it’s Iran, yet another country that can’t be negotiated with. Why? Religious fanaticism is the excuse this time. But while the Iranians may seem scarier simply because they’re today’s enemy, that doesn’t mean they can’t be dealt with just like any other nation state can be dealt with.

Kevin Drum then asks: “With a track record this bad, why should we pay attention to the same old hysterical siren song this time? Shouldn’t we send the hawks packing and instead figure out more sensible ways to react to our global problems? Shouldn’t we have learned our lesson by now?”

Jim McDermott ends his post by saying “Just remember to be afraid….afraid of what else Republicans will do if they remain in power after the November election.” Those are words to remember…

I hope Democrats are prepared to respond to the inevitable fear campaign that’s fast approaching…