If facts are against you, you an still win an argument by claiming you are insulted by those facts, and pretending reality is a personal insult to you.

Consider, for instance, Obama-backer Donna Brazile’s respond to Clinton-backer Paul Begalada’s statement that Obama’s coalition of blacks and educated whites is the “Dukakis Coalition”

Here’s the specific remarks. Begala points out that Obama’s coalition has led to Democratic defeats in the past:

If there’s a new democratic party that doesn’t need or want white working-class people and latinos count me out. We cannot win with eggheads and african-americans. That’s the Dukakis coalition which carried 10 states and gave us 4 years of the first George Bush.

And Dona Brazile queues up “you insult…”:

We need to not divide adn polarize the Democratic Party as if the Democratic Party will realy entirely on white blue-collar males. You insult every black blue-collar democrat by saying that. So stop the division, stop trying to split us into these groups.

Obviously, I’m against race-baiting anti-COIN protectionists — I oppose Barack Obama. In a just world, he wouldn’t have a chance of being a major party’s nominee.

We don’t live in that just world, though we may live in one almost as good: the Democratic Party may be retreating into the Dukakis Coalition.

As long as it works as well for the Democratic Party in 2008 as in 1998: good.