I was talking to a friend the other day and he asked me what happened to Howard Dean. I thought about it for a while, scratched my head and said, “I don’t know”. In the past, I could always depend on Howard as a subject for a blog post by searching for his latest quote. But then, I didn’t recall any outrageous quotes lately from Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer or even Nancy Pelosi.

Where or why are the Democrats hiding?

There is an interesting article titled “The Non-Contract With America” in the Wall Street Journal Opinion page Saturday that may answer that question. According to the WSJ, it’s the Democrat strategy to not offer any substantive new programs before the election - just the opposite of the 10 point “Contract With America” that Newt Gingrich and the Republicans offered that swept them into control of Congress in 1992. Read the full article here. The idea is to keep the focus on the Republicans, who right how are not very popular. In other words, the Democrats smell victory and are sitting back and just waiting - not wanting to make any mistakes. Sounds smart doesn’t it?

I don’t think so. Many see the greatest Democrat weakness as their constant complaining and negativism while never offering any suggestions to improve things. For example, Rush Limbaugh dubbed Democrat Senate leader Harry Reid “Dingy Harry”. George Bush even brought that up again recently while he was on the stump, as he accused the Democrats of complaining while having no programs.

So what are the Democrats doing? They are playing into their own weakness. As they sit on their hands, in a defensive position, Republicans can pound away at them as the party that has no plans. This raises even more doubts in the collective minds of the electorate about the ability of the Democrats to lead. People admire strong leaders. Bush advisor Karl Rove must be smacking his lips.

Smart politicians play into their opponent’s weakness. For example, if your opponent is known for raising taxes, the focus of your campaign would be showing the voters how you will cut taxes. Richard Nixon was a master at this tactic. You never need to directly attack your opponent, but the voters get the idea anyway.

With only a few days left before the election, it will be interesting to see if Republicans are able to successfully take advantage of the Democrat “do nothing” strategy and keep control of Congress.

Dan England’s posts can also be found at Getting Elected Blogline and and Townhall. Dan’s website is GettingElected.com and he is the author of So You Want to Run for Political Office and Welcome to the Real Corporate World.