Representative Mark Schauer of Michigan does not dwell on the legislation he has voted for during his first term in Congress, which includes the Democratic stimulus plan and health insurance overhaul. But he reminds his constituents what he has fought against, declaring, “I must ask myself 10 times a day, what is Washington thinking?”
Representative Glenn Nye of Virginia does not mention in his television advertisements that he is a Democrat. But he expresses a deep worry about the national debt, saying, “I stood up to my party leaders and voted no.”
Representative Suzanne M. Kosmas of Florida looks straight into the camera during her latest commercial and declares, “People in this district are mad, and I’m mad, too.”
The advertisements from these three vulnerable Democrats offer a window into the party’s strategy to try to keep control of the House in November at a moment when Republicans and their allies are substantially outspending Democrats and their backers.
Two years after arriving in Washington on a message of hope and change, Democratic candidates are not extolling their party’s accomplishments, but rather distancing themselves from their party’s agenda.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/us/politics/13ads.html?hpSo, don't even wave around the bloody shirts that you've got- fail to advocate your own progressive or populist proposals and instead reinforce Republican memes and framing, while making the party as a whole look weak and ineffective!
Drew Westen would call this "political creationism."
Which is astute because like creationists, ideologues will never learn, no matter what the science or evidence from past campaigns shows them.