Reply #13: The problem as I see it is:

[The Straight Story]

What is our message for dealing with terrorism and how do we communicate it?

The republican message is go after them wherever they are and kill them, which resonates with folks. What is our message and how can we keep it simple and to the point?

I fear our message is 'bush sucks, so vote for us' which is to say, we ain't got nothing for you but we ain't bush.

Problem with dems is we see a mixed message. Iraq is bad, but we need to stay and we voted for the IWR.

On terrorism - since 9/11 no more attacks, lots of arrests (even if unjust), and the dems seem to agree terror is an issue. The message middle america is seeing is that we as dems want to deal with terrorists and make them happy so they don't kill us, where the republicans want to enage them with force and put em down.

I guess what I am getting at is - what the hell is our message (and I ain't talking about DU's message)? Is it the same message with some twists added (fight terror, stay in iraq as we made the mess, etc) or something fully different. And how are they getting out to the avg joe?