Alan Grayson

It turns out smearing your mainstream Republican, Baptist opponent as Talibanesque by altering video of him doesn't play that well in a moderate House district or among Independents.

Thanks to his ridiculous rhetoric and just-released "Taliban Dan" ad, Rep. Alan Grayson is now running seven points behind Republican Dan Webster, according to a Sunshine State Poll.

This is a tale in which we learn that becoming a folk hero for the online left, under the guidance of former MyDD scribe Matt Stoller, does not necessarily endear one to a center-right district that went Democrat for the first time in 25 years in 2008.

In Alan Grayson's latest ad, he distorts video of his Republican opponent talking to a gathering of religious conservatives to make it appear as if he's unequivocally endorsing the scripture, "wives submit to your husbands," dubbing him "Taliban Dan."

How many people die from lack of insurance? That's the question that The Atlantic's Megan McArdle tackled in her column this month. It's a more difficult question to answer than you might think: Though the left is fond of claiming that hundreds of thousands of people will be left to die like dogs on the street if we don't grant them health care coverage, the truth of the matter is still under debate.