Final Word from Thursday, March 12, 2009
Two Democratic strategists and CNN commentators, James Carville and Paul Begala, are suspected of helping the White House to devise and implement a strategy to portray talk-show host Rush Limbaugh as the de facto leader of the Republican Party. The Republicans are rudderless under Party Chairman Michael Steele, and singling out Limbaugh as the heart and soul of the party is an effective ploy. He's disliked by an overwhelming majority of voters, including many Republicans. A similar strategy seems to be taking shape in the CR, but on the opposite side of the aisle. There's an effort to portray controversial Central Bohemian Gov. David Rath as the rotting soul of the Social Democrats. Jiří Paroubek is the real leader of ČSSD (and is more effective in his job than Steele), but Rath is increasingly becoming the lightning rod that attracts the criticism. Whether ODS is orchestrating this assault isn't yet clear, but Mirek Topolánek is the clear beneficiary. Next to Rath's ČSSD, ODS looks increasingly electable.[Czech Republic RNC Barack Obama media]
Glossary of difficult words
to devise - to plan or invent by careful thought;
rudderless - lacking a clear sense of one’s aims or principles;
to single out - to select, pick out;
heart and soul - the most essential or vital part of something;
ploy - a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one’s own advantage;
the aisle - a passageway between the two sides of a legislative body dividing members of the represented political parties;
lightning rod - a person or thing that attracts a lot of criticism;
electable - capable of being elected or winning an election.