Frequent John Locke Foundation Headliner Fred Barnes uses his latest Weekly Standard column to highlight a common Democratic strategy during this election season:

The Democratic strategy in the 2010 election is simple: Change the
subject. And given the subject on everyone?s mind, who can blame them?
That subject is the economy and related matters like spending, the
deficit, debt, and President Obama. These are the last things Democrats
want to talk about.

Instead they?d like to reduce each race for the House and Senate to
the personal level. Their aim is to emphasize the individual flaws of
Republican candidates. In the Democratic game plan, the economy and
national issues are taboo.

This microstrategy is one of pure desperation. It?s all that?s left
when macro-political trends are going against you. Indeed, Democrats
start with two strikes against them. A midterm election is usually a
referendum on the president?s performance, and this year?s is no
exception. And the most important measure of the president?s success or
failure is the condition of the economy.

Given this, the campaign is on a track that?s likely to produce a
Republican landslide in November. So Democrats are eager to create a
separate track, a parallel campaign aimed at minimizing their losses.