Strategizin'

Nate Silver points out the thinking behind the Obama administration's willingness to go after agenda critics, e.g. Rush Limbaugh, the crazy CNBC guy, directly in press conferences. As Silver says, it does provide a nice foil for the administration, but it also does something more: it aligns the craziness of the commentators with the similar craziness of actual elected Republicans, without going after the minority directly.