The plan is to get at least one Republican to sign on to each new disastrous piece of legislation.

With more than half a year yet to go before the pivotal 2010 elections, the Democrats are clearly in a panicked election mode. Every news story, every major speech, and every mass mailing makes reference to the fact that the Republicans are unbending in their opposition to the liberal agenda, with the accompanying threat that this will be the basis on which the Democrats win big in November.

Yet beneath the phony veneer of outrage over the intransigency of the GOP lies a desperate Democrat attempt to attain bipartisan consensus on anything. Those on the Left know full well that therein lies their only hope of avoiding an electoral bloodbath in the fall. So they continue to denounce their Republican rivals on a host of topics, always hoping desperately that some naive Republican may get cold feet and cross the aisle. Thankfully, it has not happened yet, but in their desperate straits Democrats have no alternative except to keep trying.

The painful lessons for Republicans over the past three decades seem to have finally sunk in. On every occasion in which they ever attempted to cross the aisle, find "common ground" with liberal Democrats, or "end the rancor" that ostensibly disillusions so many from political interests, the Democrats gain both the political and philosophical high ground, appearing as principled leaders while their duped GOP counterparts are left in stunned amazement, facing the wrath or indifference (both of which are politically costly) of a demoralized conservative grassroots.

So, in the current climate of an energized conservative groundswell, and with no other viable strategy, the Obama/Reid/Pelosi political machine is resorting once again to its standard ploy of appealing to the "centrist" leanings of wobbly Republican political hacks. The issue in question may vary, but the tactics are the same.

"Obamacare," touted as the gleaming jewel of Democrat hopes and aspirations for America, ought to be worn as a badge of honor by every "courageous" Democrat who braved the hostility of constituents and diligently dodged any constitutional impediment to its implementation. But why then, if it is indeed such a gleaming moral and political Democrat victory, should its originators be willing to share any of its glory with the opposition? This manner of thinking would certainly not explain the latest Democrat ruse, which is an attempt to involve Republicans in the "fixes" now deemed necessary to defray the abominable expenses that the bill's supporters are lately admitting will inevitably ensue.

According to recent assessments, the former Congressional Budget Office numbers, which claimed that Obamacare would not cost over a trillion dollars (as if that degree of thrift was itself some emblem of Democrat fiscal virtue), are off by a factor of three or more. So how do the Democrats address this unfolding budgetary nightmare? By fervently soliciting Republican involvement in a "Mend it, don't end it" fix. Thus they hope that all participants will thereafter share culpability for the monstrosity of Obamacare.

If even a single Republican were to be drawn into this cesspool, the reaction from liberals in the media would quickly be to affix blame on the entire Congress, thereby diluting political injury to any who truly deserve it. So far, however, the Republicans are remaining steadfast in their unwillingness to become entangled.

On "Cap and Trade," another front of the same political war, Democrats scream loudly about the unwillingness of Republicans to join in this noble venture to rescue mother earth from the brink of annihilation. But again, as the details of the "Cap and Trade" grand plan become known to the public, opposition to it, and in fact outrage at any who would dare to advance it, grows exponentially.

This bill would unleash every imaginable demon of an out of control government, from the taxation of struggling industries to the intrusion of federal "green compliance inquisitors," onto every aspect of American life. From the production and purchase of manufactured goods to the buying and selling of private residences, the former freedom of Americans to engage in private business transactions would be trampled. So of course liberal eco-fanatics on Capitol Hill would want the burden of public backlash to be shared with participating Republicans, were any to be found.

Not surprisingly, the recent Democrat obsession with amnesty for the twelve to twenty million illegal aliens, while embodying every malicious tactic from the liberal playbook, is once again being characterized as an appeal to those in Washington (translation: Could even a few Republicans bail us out on this one?) to "do something" to address this dire situation. However, the public would likely be even more energized on this issue than it was by Obama's obsessive quest for medical socialism. And the last thing the Democrats can endure is an undistracted public that recognizes them as the source of such betrayal.

So, like clockwork, Obama is pulling out the race card in hopes of intimidating the less stalwart members of the GOP into giving him and his party cover while they decimate American sovereignty in a quest for more left-leaning votes. In a logical twist of absurd proportions, he claims that opponents to his anti-American plan, including the State of Arizona where a serious border security bill was finally passed into law, are somehow themselves acting counter to the American spirit. Democrat mailings likewise tell us of those contemptible bigots on the Right who outrageously want to keep America for Americans.

Ultimately, what is really evident here is that the Democrats have no hope of gaining traction with the American public based on the merits of their agenda, between now and the mid-term elections. Thus their only chance of minimizing the impending losses is to break the bonds that have developed between the conservative grassroots and a Republican Party that is increasingly willing to stand with the people of the Heartland.

Clearly, the best course for the Republican Party at this point is to remain fixed on a program of Reagan conservatism that touts the Constitution and, in deference to its noble precepts, promises to reverse the damage daily being inflicted by the Left. As for Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and their media lapdogs, let them all continue trumpeting the reasons why we need to send them packing at the earliest opportunity.