The high road leads to the edge of the cliff ......

[Stinky The Clown]

This isn't about your politics or mine. This is about **our** winning in 06.

Rest assured, the mud that will be slung, the dirty tricks that will be played, the lies that will be spewed, the hate that will be fomented in the upcoming election cycle - all directed at Democrats and :mad:Liberals:mad: - will be something to behold.

Nice ain't gunna get it.

Intellectual ain't gunna get it.

Even 'issues' ain't gunna get it.

If we want to win, we've got to be ready to fight. And not by the Marquis of Queensbury Rules.

Call them out at every chance. Call 'bullshit' at every lie. Call foul at every dirty trick. And if need be, be prepared to do 'whatever it takes'. I'm sorry to say, but in the America in which we now find ourselves, the America shaped by five years of Republican mindless blindness, the America as dumbed down by our Three Monkey Media, the America in which politics is little more than a team sport where sides are chosen up and win at all costs mentalities are the rule, in THIS America, toughness and a willingness to fight matters.

We need to be on offense from the start. Offensive offense if need be.

For 06 (and maybe for 08, too) the high road needs to have this sign at its entrance:

[MadMaddie]

1. I agree with what you have said....the Democratic Party

needs to have a fast response attack machine in place...for all of the bullshit that will be flung by the Repug machine....The Democratic party needs an advertising marketing guru group for the fast reponse team.....

[marmar]

2. Hopefully they've gotten better...

I noticed a response from Howard Dean, en espanol, to the outright lies of the Republican ads accusing Democrats of wanting to jail illegal immigrants on Democrats.org.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. The website is a start, but was anyone on Telemundo saying it?

That's what I'm talking about. Get ahead of them. Get in their face. Wag a finger at their nose.

Tough is as tough does .... or doesn't.

[kentuck]

4. They have to be called on every lie...

Because that is all they have...

[Virginia Dare]

5. Agree w/everything...n/t

[Greyhound]

6. Every show, every day, every time. Ignore the slanted, loaded

question the puppets ask and hit them where it hurts with the truth. Every question, every show, every time, no matter what was asked, stick to the truth!

[Kailassa]

7. And how do you get representatives who will do that?

n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

10. That's a problem, now, isn't it?

I have no obvious answer that would be politically correct.

[Union Thug]

8. I agree.. Come out swinging..

and don't relent. Keep them constantly on the defensive. Learn from their strategies and sling them back at them. in '08, swift boat that little bastard McCain.. Pull out all the old Bush attacks on McCain and let them fly.

I've come to see politics as a street fight, not a polite college debate, or a 'strong defense/best offense' proposition. Street fights are not won by those on the defensive- they are won by those not afraid to mercilessly swing the lead pipe.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Amen! Glad to see others get it, too.

Lead pipes, indeed. And switchblades and zip guns, and shanks and brass knuckles .... maybe even a baseball bat or two.

[Sparkly]

11. Oooh, NICE POST!!!

...Oh, oops. It's YOU again. :eyes:

[OneBlueSky]

12. all we have to do is tell the TRUTH . . .

about EVERYTHING . . . from the war to the environment to corporate control of Congress . . .

are Democrats prepared to tell the truth? . . . about everything? . . .

I sincerely doubt it . . .

but I remain hopeful that someone will step forward and make truth the core value of his/her campaign . . .

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Truth -- with a little "killer instinct" mixed in!

I agree with everything in the OP. The Marquis of Queensbury obviously never met the likes of a Karl Rove, or his rules would have been shortened to "When you get 'em down, keep kicking!"

'Tis a shame, but these days a little taste of the jugular is probably called for...

[calimary]

14. Abso-Fuckin'-Lutely! You couldn't be MORE spot-on about this!

Abso-Fuckin'-Lutely! Taking the high road WILL take you straight over a cliff.

Nice guys finish LAST in politics.

In order to govern, first you have to WIN.

In order to set the agenda, first you have to WIN.

In order to call the shots (WITH subpoena power), first you have to WIN.

In order to launch IMPEACHMENT proceedings, first you have to WIN.

In order to launch serious investigations and actually hold these people accountable for a change, first you have to WIN.

In order to influence, and change, the timbre of the public political discourse, FIRST YOU HAVE TO WIN.


And keep this in mind, too: It. Does. NOT. Matter. What. The. Polls. Say. About. Negative. Campaigning.

Doesn't matter. Doesn't mean dick.

Americans will tell you all day long how they despise mudslinging and negative campaigns and cheap shots and the rest of it. Public opinion surveys confirm this again and again. They'll also tell you they hate gossip and don't read the "National Enquirer," and don't buy "US" and "Life&Style" and all that other crap. They'll tell you they never read "Page Six."

BUT THEY DO.

And negative campaigning works. Statistics, and election after election after election all prove this is true. People SAY it's shitty and go tsk-tsk-tsk, but they buy it hook-line-and-sinker EVERY time.

We HAVE to go negative. You think for one instant the enemy won't? They'll hit our people with everything they've got, most of it lies and distortions, but they'll use it all ANYWAY, hoping some voters will buy it. And some will. Which means there are other voters who'll buy the shit WE can throw at the enemy. And we have MORE shit to throw at them, what with the abramoff/delay stuff and the toadying to bush for war and the toadying to bush to take your privacy rights away and hold a trip to Gitmo over your head if you don't behave, and committing war crimes and treason by leaking national security secrets, and not protecting the most vulnerable among us from major disasters like Katrina, which is what the federal government is there to do, in the first place. All the shit and dirt WE have to throw at these people just happens to be, conveniently enough, THE TRUTH. If the idea of fighting dirty bothers you, then salve your conscience with this thought: whatever mud we sling at them will be THE TRUTH. The enemy won't be able to make that same claim.

I say fight dirty, fight dirtier, fight dirtiest! Mudwrestling? I'm IN!!!

We can ask for forgiveness LATER.

AFTER WE WIN.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Add 'passion' to the "good candidate traits" list .........

.... as demonstrated by your post.

And thank you getting what I was saying ....... yup, it isn't a matter of if we need to go negative .... it is how and when we go negative.

If one were to bet one's ass on them using dirty tricks starting on .... hell, they're doing it now. Make that bet and you'll have *two* asses.

I'd opt to do it on day one with the leprechaun corps ... or the troll brigade ..... and the pixie people ..... anyone not right in the campaign.

[calimary]

16. Correct again, my friend. You get the surrogates out there to do the dirty

work. When Clinton was on the ascendant, it was Carville and company and their "rapid-response teams." That way he could feign taking the high road and keep his nose clean while all his operatives everywhere were slinging the shit.

That's EXACTLY what bush does now. His legions of rovians and other flying monkeys do all the dirty work while he gets to pretend to be "above it all."

Well, two parties can play that game, and as I said before, I'm IN!!! I certainly don't mind flinging mud, especially when it's been steeped in THE TRUTH.

I think we should throw WHATEVER we can think of at them. And do as LBJ did: MAKE THEM DENY IT. The important thing is just to get it out there. ALL'S fair. EVERYTHING'S fair game. All that counts is to WIN. We can make nice-nice later, when we're in the position to dictate it from the bully pulpit. OUR bully pulpit.

[saltpoint]

17. I'd like to see the Religious Right challenged by a cadre of scholars

and leading liberal and progressive clerics on every single thing that goes on.

From creationism in schools to the gay marriage issue, and so forth.

Set up a Blue Room that goes 24-7 and blasts the hell out of Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, Reed, and all the rest of that diseased gang every time they open their mouths.

Every single time, no exceptions, and full-blast right at them.

We own the debate that way and they have to defend their undefendable positions.