Democrat tactics

[vraiblonde]

Here's folks like Vrai demanding to know what Michelle Obama thinks, while her husband is planning to legalize all forms of abortion and raise taxes and no one is talking about that!

You're assuming WAY too much attention span on the part of the reality TV crowd.

Talking about issues instead of tabloid prurience is what has caused the Republicans to lose so much ground. "," said the collective public, "Who's giving Bill a bj these days?" You see it every day on these forums - there is a very small group that participates in the politics forum, unless there's some sex scandal. THEN they all come out of the woodwork with their two cents.

You have to play to the audience you have, not the audience you wish you had. While Republicans drone on and on about illegal immigration reforms, Social Security and Homeland Security, Barack Obama spews a bunch of Hallmark card homilies and preaches vague ideas of hope and change.

Obama made a speech the other day that made it clear he was going to gut the military. He made no bones about it. And his audience cheered, because that's what they want. Nevermind what happens then - they're all about Instant Karma and Imagine. No Republican can fight against that feel good hippie I'm okay you're okay bull#### because there is a large segment of our population that thinks everyone can get along if the US wasn't so powerful.

So the Republicans SHOULD hit at a personal level, because that's what people are interested in.

 

[Larry Gude]

Uh...

Obama has thin skin and he can't take the heat.

...what heat?

 

[Bann]

...what heat?

The heat of no one's allowed to talk about anything to do with Obama because of various & sundry reasons or another. (racism, wife bashing, etc.)

And then they stamp their feet, whine & point their fingers at someone else.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of months. Time to put his money where his mouth is.

 

[Larry Gude]

It's...

So the Republicans SHOULD hit at a personal level, because that's what people are interested in.

...not personal to take her top task about what she said. It is personal, and ineffective, to say she looks like an angry sister or to question her motives.

Effective politics is challenging people to pulp over what they SAY. Not what they may be thinking, not who they are or are not; what they say. It doesn't and should not be personal. It's all about policy and issues.

Gun control; "So, Sen. Obama, a gay man shouldn't have the right to defend himself against some hate filled gay basher walking down the street at 1am?"

The war: "Sen. Obama, was it proper for the US to sit on it's hands when Hutu's slaughtered 800,000 Tutsi's in Rwanda with machetes or is the use of US military force actually proper sometimes? If so, what's the difference between Iraqi's and Rwandan's?

Taxes; "Given the dramatic rise in income to the US treasury since the Bush tax cuts and the same result un Kennedy and Reagan, how do you justify taking more to the American people?"

The environment: "How do we put a stop to global warming on Mars?"

"Pride" : "Given the dramatic rise in civil liberties and protection of individual rights the last 40 years, of which you have been a part, can you see why so many people are offended my Michelle's remarks?"

Healthcare: "If the federal government should be in charge of health care, as you've argued, why not housing and food? Isn't that more important?"

 

[Larry Gude]

Again...

The heat of no one's allowed to talk about anything to do with Obama because of various & sundry reasons or another. (racism, wife bashing, etc.)

And then they stamp their feet, whine & point their fingers at someone else.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of months. Time to put his money where his mouth is.

...what heat? Who is gonna apply it? John McCain? Mike Huckabee? Mitt Romney?

 

[Bann]

...what heat? Who is gonna apply it? John McCain? Mike Huckabee? Mitt Romney?

Just the heat, in general, of people (in general, but anyone not in agreement with him in particular) not being able to make any criticism or questioning of his views (such as they are) whatsoever.

It was just a figger of speech.

 

[Larry Gude]

I understand...

Just the heat, in general, of people (in general, but anyone not in agreement with him in particular) not being able to make any criticism or questioning of his views (such as they are) whatsoever.

It was just a figger of speech.

...that, but the heat, the real heat would come from an opponent just hammering away at legitimate stuff and the GOP does not do that.

Clinton, case in point. The GOP allowed the story to become 'it's just sex' instead of the basic dishonesty of the man. He lied about his ROTC days, he lied about smoking dope and this non sense of inhaling, he lies about all his women, he is lying about the Travel Office, the FBI files, Loral and military technology transfer decisions being moved form the Defense Department to Commerce, he lies about Lippo, Web Hubbell, Whitewater, etc, etc, etc.

You pound home that if a man lies to his friends and family where is the rational he won't lie to the American people? You bring up what Clinton said in the mid 70's about Nixon; He has to go because you can't lie to the American people.

The problem is the GOP has no stomach for the fight. They're petrified to attack Clinton on lying about national defense when all the talking heads know they are cheating on their wife.

 

[vraiblonde]

The problem is the GOP has no stomach for the fight.

That's part of it, but the real problem is that we're a tabloid nation. I've said this before: when you start talking issues and policy, your audience falls asleep; when you start digging dirt, they pay attention.

Republicans suck at digging dirt and shoving it in the Democrats' faces. And on the rare occasion that they do feed the public red meat, they allow the Democrats to scream about dirty politics and personal attacks unchallenged.

Just the other day Barack Obama made a speech ripping into McCain and distorting his record (like his record needs distorting). McCain came back and said, rightfully, that Obama was a liar. The Democrats leapt on this and whined that McCain was being mean and this is what they've come to expect from the Republican party. And there was no rebuttal from the Republicans.

THIS is the sort of thing that goes on with these freaks, and the Republicans just let them get away with it. They need to start being more aggressive in attacking and counterattacking, but what they really need to focus on is sneering at the hypocrisy of the Left.

You see it on these forums all the time: some Leftwing nutjob starts being ugly and calling people names, but the second you say something back to them, they start puling about how you can't put a rational thought together and all you can do is call people names.

 

[Larry Gude]

So...

That's part of it, but the real problem is that we're a tabloid nation. I've said this before: when you start talking issues and policy, your audience falls asleep; when you start digging dirt, they pay attention.

Republicans suck at digging dirt and shoving it in the Democrats' faces. And on the rare occasion that they do feed the public red meat, they allow the Democrats to scream about dirty politics and personal attacks unchallenged.

...which is it? What we ARE or what GOP'ers do poorly?

America was never designed to be a 24/7 politics nation. We are a representative republic and, as such, the idea is we elect someone and they go deal with everything within the purview of the constitution. We'll check in at election time. As it should be. We have lives to live.

So, it's up to the players, the people who stand up and say 'vote for me'.

Abortion is killing.
Progressive taxation is wrong.
Taxes are FAR too complicated.
A strong national defense is a good idea.
Staying out of other nations problems is a good idea.
Lot's and lot's of small business's is good.
Giant corporations bordering on monopolies is a bad idea.
We're not killing the planet.
Personal responsibility is freedom.
God is personal business.


Those are all sound bites. Tabloid stuff. The success of Dems, especially the left, is in repetition. The success of conservatism is in being right. And repeating that over and over and over again. It's our own fault when we support people like Bush 41 and 43. We get what we voted for.

Point is, you're right about the tabloid business, but that is a given. The variable is the people we support.

 

[Bann]

...that, but the heat, the real heat would come from an opponent just hammering away at legitimate stuff and the GOP does not do that.

Clinton, case in point. The GOP allowed the story to become 'it's just sex' instead of the basic dishonesty of the man. He lied about his ROTC days, he lied about smoking dope and this non sense of inhaling, he lies about all his women, he is lying about the Travel Office, the FBI files, Loral and military technology transfer decisions being moved form the Defense Department to Commerce, he lies about Lippo, Web Hubbell, Whitewater, etc, etc, etc.

You pound home that if a man lies to his friends and family where is the rational he won't lie to the American people? You bring up what Clinton said in the mid 70's about Nixon; He has to go because you can't lie to the American people.

The problem is the GOP has no stomach for the fight. They're petrified to attack Clinton on lying about national defense when all the talking heads know they are cheating on their wife.

I know. The GOP sucks at it. But at least there is talk radio and some other conservatives and/or GOP'ers like bloggers, columnists, TV show hosts et. al. who will apply heat.

 

[Larry Gude]

The...

I know. The GOP sucks at it. But at least there is talk radio and some other conservatives and/or GOP'ers like bloggers, columnists, TV show hosts et. al. who will apply heat.

...talking heads came onto the scene, if we remember, like a Rita's stand in the Sahara; people just lined up. For sooo long we had the major papers and the big three networks that just drove the agenda. Then came Reagan. Then came cable and a few newspapers and then talk radio. Then Perot, Newt, and so forth.

Through all of this were voices like Will and many others, quietly and dignified, preaching the same gospel that, suddenly, was in vogue for awhile.

It's one thing to have talk. These forums are a talk. It's another in who the leaders are, what they're really about and to actually support them. Look at Obama. He's leading a firestorm of people excited to have what they see as a real leader of their political ideas. Forget what he actually means or will do. The desire is out there, whatever the beliefs.

We talk about education all the time and we spend a fortune doing it, but, what do we get? And this the deepest problem; our education leaves us where, for the most part, we don't even teach the beauty and elegance of our political systems. TV, papers, commentators, there is no unifying thread of how it all is supposed to work, so, we're at the mercy, truly, of the lobby class and whatever the courts allow.

Kind of a disjointed post this AM.