picture-13Not surprisingly, yesterday’s news that the Republican National Committee had taken time to draft a “resolution” to rename its opposition the “Democrat Socialist Party” got a scathing reply from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, who namechecks Rep. Michele Bachmann in his rebuke. But criticism also came from a less expected source: Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air. Chief blogger Allahpundit called the plan “stupid” and “reek[ing] of impotence”:

More than anything, this reeks of impotence, operating almost as a concession that the right’s argument on the merits that the left is evolving towards socialism isn’t working to shift public opinion. So now they’re going to up the ante by trying the hard sell: Just repeat “socialism” as much as possible to try to drive it into people’s skulls, never minding the fact that that term’s already lost some of its taboo and might well lose more as it goes further mainstream. Or at least, I hope that’s the GOP strategy here. The alternative, that they’re simply sticking their fingers in their ears and repeating “socialist” over and over out of spite like a five-year-old, is too depressing to contemplate. What’s next, a formal resolution declaring french fries “freedom fries” in the Republican Party henceforth and forevermore?

Olbermann’s point is similar: he gives a hearty “WTF?” to the RNC’s strategy, noting that, according to recent Pew polls, the party’s tactic hasn’t succeeded in tarring Barack Obama with the term “Socialist.” Fewer than 3 percent of those polled used the term to describe the president. Further, a recent Rasmussen survey found that barely half of Americans — 53 percent — prefer capitalism over socialism.

He quips: perhaps the likes of John Boehner, Michele Bachmann and Dick Cheney are actually “Democratic agents… moles, turncoats, political traitors” intent upon ruining the GOP’s reputation for decades to come.

Closer to home, MinnPost’s David Brauer tweets, “That oughta convince the independents, GOP. Keep talking among yourselves…”