<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Left&#8217;s Favorite Bogeymen,&nbsp;Ctd]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Weigel <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/03/25/the_koch_brothers_only_38_percent_of_americans_know_them_most_dislike_them.html">parses</a> a recent poll (<a href="https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/sites/mediarelations.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Questionnaire%2003.25.2014.pdf">pdf</a>) on the Koch brothers:</p>
<blockquote><p>So 13 percent of Americans view the Kochs favorably and 25 percent view them unfavorably. By contrast, &#8220;Wall Street&#8221; has a 29/39 <a href="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers.jpg"><img data-attachment-id="228315" data-permalink="https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/03/26/the-lefts-favorite-bogeymen-ctd/koch-brothers/" data-orig-file="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=320&#038;h=238" data-orig-size="320,238" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="Koch Brothers" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=320&#038;h=238?w=300" data-large-file="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=320&#038;h=238?w=320" class="alignright wp-image-228315 size-full" src="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=320&#038;h=238" alt="Koch Brothers" width="320" height="238" srcset="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg 320w, https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=150&amp;h=112 150w, https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?w=300&amp;h=223 300w" sizes="(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" /></a>favorable/unfavorable rating, and the most prominent libertarian in America, Rand Paul, is at a robust 38/30. There you go—the Kochs are by miles the least popular icons of the pro-business, libertarian right. It only makes sense to pummel them. And when you pummel, you realize that &#8220;all Americans&#8221; will not be the electorate in 2014. The electorate will consist of maybe 40 percent of registered voters. Democrats need that electorate to grow a bit and include more Democrats. Anything that scares or angers them and makes them vote, they&#8217;ll use.</p></blockquote>
<p>Drum <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/03/people-who-know-koch-brothers-sure-dont-them-much">passes along</a> the chart above:</p>
<blockquote><p>Given their low profile, you&#8217;d hardly expect the Kochs to be a household name. And yet, nearly half of all American have heard of them, and among those who are in the know they&#8217;re very unpopular. So maybe the Democratic strategy of personalizing the robber-baron right by demonizing the Kochs is paying off. Give it another few months and maybe the Kochs <em>will</em> be a household name.</p></blockquote>
<p>Cillizza <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/25/why-attacking-the-koch-brothers-probably-wont-work/">doubts</a> the strategy will earn Democrats votes:<!--tpmore --></p>
<blockquote><p>We&#8217;ve long believed that attacks on two relatively low-profile billionaires isn&#8217;t likely to work for Democrats simply because, as this poll shows, people don&#8217;t know who the Koch brothers are.  And, beyond their low name identification, the reality is that voters almost never use campaign finance or money in politics as a voting issue.  Yes, in polls people will say there is too much money in politics and that it&#8217;s a bad thing. But, time and time again in actual elections they don&#8217;t vote on it.  Take 2010 when, in a last-ditch attempt to change the narrative from one focused on President Obama and Obamacare, the White House and its allies insisted that the &#8220;dark&#8221; money that groups like American Crossroads were putting into the system was going to be a major issue for voters. Um, not so much.</p></blockquote>
<p>David Graham largely <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/the-democratic-partys-eternal-search-for-a-villain-in-the-obama-age/359566/">agrees</a>. But he sees few other juicy targets:</p>
<blockquote><p>In 2014 the White House (and congressional Democrats) once again have few choices. The Republican presidential field two years ago was weak and diffuse; Mitt Romney&#8217;s ultimate victory came after boomlets for Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and, yes, even Herman Cain. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/why-the-presidential-race-starts-earlier-every-cycle/359535/">At this early stage</a>, the 2016 GOP field promises to be much stronger, but it&#8217;s still a wide-open race and Romney has shown no interest in giving it another shot, so there&#8217;s no obvious bogeyman. So who else do Democrats have to attack? Reince Priebus isn&#8217;t exactly a household name either.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ed Morrissey&#8217;s <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2014/03/25/poll-new-koch-attacks-not-exactly-selling-in-battleground-states/">take</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>[T]his is red meat for the base. Most everyone else could care less, mainly because the “look — billionaires!” scare tactic is so blatantly hypocritical.</p></blockquote>
<p>Earlier Dish on the Kochs <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/03/14/the-lefts-favorite-bogeymen/">here</a>.</p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/koch-brothers-e1395848640109.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[320]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[238]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>