What will be the Democrats' selling points for the '06 and '08 elections?

[begin_within]

[Tiggeroshii]

1. They DIDN't have a Majority leader, procurement chief,

a Senator and every one of their White House Aids under scrutiny in criminal conspiracy investigations EVER all at once in one Presidential term(exceptions to Delay, he'll become a Martha Stewart of the Republican party).

[ray of light]

2. Have a say in what YOU think Congress should care about

sign the pledge and pass it on.

http://www.democracycellproject.net/pledge.shtml

[newscott]

3. They should run a commercial that talks about fear

The Republicans said they could protect you better.

Then we had 9/11.

* promised those who did it would pay. Where's Osama?

The Government is supposed to help you out in a natural disaster. Then Katrina happened on their watch.

The only thing you have to fear is Republican leadership.

Etc....

It would be too easy.

[Tiggeroshii]

5. Why didn't we do that in 04? n/t

[newscott]

7. Because we supposedly don't stoop to that level

Although I don't know why. It works.

[Tiggeroshii]

8. We need to do it while they do it, and

once they see it backfiring on them maybe it'll stop.

[1932]

14. I think we did do that. And it cost us votes.

I think when the OBL was missing/missing explosives stories came out, Demcorats jumped all over them thinking that they were a home run for us. I think it was a trap for Democrats. By talking exclusively about those stories, by endorsing them, we were saying that the world is a frightening place, and people voted accordingly.

We should have been more "meta" about those stories. We should have talked about them in a way that made people aware of the instinct they were intended to promote (must vote for the itchy trigger finger if people are out to get us). We should have said, "look, Republicans are trying to scare you so that you sacrifice your well-being for the sake of huge profits for Bechtel"--or some more refined version of that message.

[1932]

12. That's a "mexed missage" as Bush would say.

You're saying that we should be afraid of Republicans because they've made the world less safe?

That' reminds me of the last ten days of last year's election: the media kept telling us that OBL was on the loose and there were missing explosives in Iraq. People accepted that Bush was probably responsible for both of those failures, but decided that if there was something about which we should be frightened, it would be better to have a stimulus-resonse president with an itchy trigger finger than a president who was thoughtful.

The Democrats need to open people's eyes to the manipulative effects of fear, but if the message is that they should be frightened, then we're not going to win.

FDR was very good at telling people there was nothing to fear but fear itself, but WTC frightened people more than Pearl Harbor did, so the ante has to be upped for Democrats.

Today I was listening to Vatican Radio on podcast and there was an Australian priest on talking about his charity which helps sailors (who are apparently exploited to a really incredible degree). He said that antiterrorism-insipired rules are making life even more miserable for commercial sailors (they have to plan days in advance to get passes to leave their ships -- if the ship is even a day late or a day early, they can't disembark and if they can't disembark, then they can't call their families or alert authorities to exploitation).

This priest said that he thought that fear is the reason we have these rules and he's come to the conclusion that no matter how theoretically justified fear is, people need to just live their lives. Giving in to fear is losing. It would be better if people just were not afraid and even accepted some of the risks the new rules were meant to address, because the new rules are guarantying horrific existences for people just to prevent the chance of something bad happening.

It's definitely something to think about.

[1932]

4. Democrats care about how you actually live your life.

And they will do what's required to make your life better.

[Just Me]

6. Republicans have fertilized a culture of corruption,....

,...betraying and exploiting the trust of the American people.

The evidence is overwhelming!!!

[bemildred]

9. Don't want "selling points", tired of PR bullshit.

Want spine and integrity and straight talk.

[1932]

16. But if Democrats can't reduce what they stand for down to

sentences and paragraphs, how are we going to expect Voters to know what they're voting for?

I don't want PR firm taglines. But I do want reducible ideas and arguments about what we're all about.

[bemildred]

17. I didn't say we should be incoherent.

I think we should be honest, show integrity, and be "un-slick".
Treat the voters like intelligent human beings and speak to
their needs and interests, and you might be surprised.
They are so used to being fed bullshit they might find
something else refreshing.

[1932]

21. setting aside phrase "selling points," I think we can and should be

pithy, succinct, terse, to the point, epigrammatic, crisp, meaningful, and expressive all without talking down to anyone.

[bemildred]

22. Cool.

[DanCa]

10. Democrats are the party of human beings rethugs are the party

of embryos.

[Just Me]

13. Hi Ya, Dan!!!

How are you doing, my friend?

[DanCa]

18. I am doing great

how are you tonight?

[cascadiance]

11. NO MORE DLC! Party of PEOPLE instead of CORPORATIONS!

At least that is what it "should" be if they want to win. Whether it will be I guess is another question!

[1932]

15. Yes. We care about how all people (not just CEOs) experience life in USA.

[Tatiana]

19. They will end this Culture of Republican Corruption.

Democrats will:

-Bring troops home.

-Return to fiscal responsibility.

-Make Americans safer through competent and effective emergency management during national disasters.

-Develop and implement responsible and effective foreign policy.

-Recommend and employ qualified and experienced governmental staff.

-Reduce our nation's dependence on oil.

-Defend our nation and work with international partners to combat terrorism; be strong and SMART on National Defense.

-Return to rational, logical, scientifically-based decision making.

-Hold everyone, including themselves, accountable.

-Introduce and facilitate passage of legislation dedicated towards improving the lives of low-income wage-earners and lifting Americans out of poverty.

-End corporate welfare, one of the most expensive government programs ever.

-Research and provide proposals regarding healthcare to the American public. With feedback from the public, adopt a common-sense, fiscally-responsible national health-care policy.

-Repeal the Patriot Act (and all subsequent versions of it).

-Abolish the Department of Homeland Security.

-Reinstate the head of FEMA as a cabinet-level position.

-Rebuild the National Guard. Reduce the level of contracts for jobs that our troops have been trained to do and are capable of doing.

I can dream, at least....

[cantstandbush]

20. Bringing integrity, intelligence, and morality back to the WH.

Ridding our government of incompetent, corporate war mongerers.

[mcctatas]

23. How about..."Even if you think we are shrill liberal cry-babies who want

to teach evolution and end the policy of pre-emptive wars, at least we aren't going to DeLay getting our nation back on the right track, and with us, you will never ever get Frist-fuc....."oh never mind

[philosophie_en_rose]

24. THERE'S SOMEONE WORSE THAN US!

No. Actually, it should be that democrats are better able to fulfill all of Bush's empty promises. That we have everything they claim to have, plus more.