When your own party starts a Facebook page demanding that you withdraw from the race immediately, things are out of hand

Call it "clueless opportunism," or "shameless self-promotion," or even "cynical mischief-making" if you want, but -- since he's campaigning for the IN-05 seat held by Rep. Dan "Shoot the Pumpkin" Burton -- you can't really blame this guy for noticing how near to the ground the bar had already been lowered:

The Hamilton County Democratic Women have released video of their heated meeting with Tim Crawford, Democratic candidate for the House in IN-05, who local Democrats see as an inept right-winger ruining their chance to take control of the seat. […]

In the videos, Crawford is visibly uncomfortable with direct questions about his policy positions. He calls himself a "student of life" to defend his lack of a college degree, and can't answer simple questions about how a bill becomes a law.

Since his reversal, local Democrats have started a Facebook group called "We Want Tim Crawford to Withdraw His Candidacy Now," pushing for him to bow out as he previously said he would.

But -- college dropout status aside -- it's hard to believe the guy made it through childhood without ever having seen this.

I mean, Crawford's evidently watched enough TV to know to go for the iconic Joe the Plumber/Man of the People shaved-head look; so surely he saw "Schoolhouse Rock!" at some point. His Facebook campaign page says he's 28, so the show wasn't cancelled until he was seventeen years old. (Some "student of life!")

(Be sure to read the comments at the TPM story, including the link to a local blog's convincing take on how the unknown Crawford was able to defeat the candidate with the state's Democratic infrastructure solidly behind him. It isn't pretty, and it should make every county Democratic organization look twice at their own GOTV plans for the fall.)