Every election season some candidates, officeholders, and party pooh-bahs make classic errors on their way to the general election. A few such decisions cost them seats. If an election is close, those losses can be decisive. Some mistakes are national and massive in scope; the name “Tom DeLay” more or less makes our point. Others attract national attention but primarily affect one state or district–let’s all say “Cynthia McKinney” together. (The congresswoman already lost her seat once, in 2002, and she’s begging to be defeated a second time–with many of her Democratic colleagues hoping for just that.)
Seven months out from November, no one knows how tight the 2006 contests will be. But it’s already obvious that some major goofs and gaffes are affecting many races. If we listed them all, this Crystal Ball would be book-length. So we’re just going to pick a few personal favorites, starting with a lengthy inquiry into the political choices made by a major presidential candidate…