the big book of modern american political tactics. however wrong or dishonest it is, it can work when you get out ahead of the public, when you are out ahead, when you're able to define your opponent before they can define themselves. you can take their best quality, and you can twist it to make it bad. it's sort of astonishing when you look back at it from a distance, but when this karl rove tactic works it really works. when it doesn't work, though, it really, really doesn't work. take the scott brown versus elizabeth warren senate race that is shaping up in massachusetts. karl rove and his lavishly funded crossroads group have been running hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of ads in massachusetts attacking elizabeth warren, attacking her before she's even secured her position as the democratic nominee. now, as a popular incumbent senator brown as recently as october was polling five points ahead of ms. warren, the consumer advocate and wall street critic.