This is a ridiculously long post, summarizing and expanding my extremely valuable free advice from many previous posts.
Run on W’s record… and
make your Republican opponent run on W’s record.“You are a loyal Republican, standing for election to {the Presidency}{the Congress}{the Senate}, representing your party. Do you support President Bush’s {foreign}{domestic}{economic} policies?”
No matter the answer, you’ve put your respected Republican opponent on the defensive. If s/he does support W, you ridicule him/er… subtly, but deliberately and pointedly, by calling out the various failures of W’s policies. (Even
Canada condemns us as torturers!) If s/he confesses to not supporting W, you feign shock: “You claim to represent the Republican party, and your constituency, but you don’t support your President!”
The economy:
If your respected opponent attempts to label you as a “tax and spend liberal”, point to our ballooning deficit, and suggest that “tax and spend” is a somewhat more responsible policy than “borrow and spend.” Use some homey examples to illustrate your point. (e.g., “How would you counsel an alcoholic who takes out a second mortgage on his house to pay for booze?”)
If s/he presses the point, suggest a
0% tax rate. Argue that if lower taxes are uniformly good, then no taxes ought to be perfect. Ask him/er why s/he does not advocate no taxes. What ought be funded? How does s/he propose to pay for it? [Note: the “no taxes” idea might appeal to the Grover Norquist wing of the Republican party – don’t worry: they’re not going to vote for you – the Democrat – under any circumstances!]
There are tons of statistics out there strongly suggesting W’s policies have been a boon to Big Biz and a disaster for the rest of us. Use ‘em! [easy ones: gas prices, 2003 vs today; oil prices 2003 vs today.]
Iraq. Ask your respected opponent what the desired
end-state is. Pin him down. Insist on specifics. Perhaps ask, “Which other country do you see Iraq most resembling when our mission has been completed?... Germany? Israel? Lebanon? China? South Korea? Japan? Brazil? Ecuador? Venezuela?...” Make him declare a choice: “Iraq will be most like X”. Good. Now, “How will we reach this desired end-state. How will we achieve a {Japan}{Korea}{Brazil}{Ecuador}{Norwary}{Italy}{Egypt}{Jordan}-like state in Iraq? What will it take? What are the steps? How long will it take? How much will it cost?”
Your position on Iraq (I hope… & if not, I don’t support you!): with the resources available to us we cannot achieve any more than we have to date. Any further expenditure of U.S. taxpayer $, or U.S. soldiers’ lives is simply chasing bad money with good, squandering our National Security on a hopeless cause.
You can afford to be generous: admit that freeing Iraq from Saddam’s tyranny was a noble cause… but W bungled it completely.
Humpty Dumpty is a good metaphor. The egg once broken cannot be put back in its shell. Rumsfeld committed us to failure when he responded to initial civil unrest with, “Stuff happens.” [note: do
NOT get sucked into an argument about pre-war intelligence, or pre-war planning. Start from today – where we are now.]
Have fun: Quote
W:
“... when it comes to our security, we really don't need anybody's permission.”
Suggest that we don’t really need Iraq’s permission to leave! – if it’s in our best national interest!
Iraq & $ (my favorite): If we’d struck a
deal with Saddam on 3 Jan 2003 to buy all Iraq’s oil at $80/bbl – a 167% premium over then-prevailing market price – we’d have spent less on Iraq than what the war has cost us to date!
Governing. W has pursued a deliberate “hands-off” approach to government, choosing to outsource basic functions, assigning political cronies with no expertise to key posts, pandering to Big Business at every opportunity. The response to Hurricane Katrina provides an excellent case study. FEMA – once a fairly competent disaster-response organization – has become a punch line. State Department security in Iraq has been outsourced to private mercenaries, subject to no law.
Govt secrecy. Quote the
Declaration of Independence... We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...
Observe that in common-law, "consent" is taken to mean "informed consent", and that "state secrets", "executive privilege", and "national security" impede the citizen's
informed consent.
The W/Cheney cabal has made it devilishly difficult for
we the people to grant our
informed consent to anything our government is doing!
Torture????.
Whatever are your favorite issues,
run on W’s record! – and
make your respected Republican opponent run on W’s record!It’s fun!... and it’s not all that hard.
NEVER let your opponent shape the battlefield. Always use W’s record to shape the battlefield to your advantage.
Personal attacks: In the unlikely (ha!) event that your respected Republican opponent dredges up dirt from your past - NEVER respond directly.
Republican opponent:
“My esteemed Democratic opponent has had carnal knowledge of his swine.”You:
“My respected Republican opponent wants to make an issue of the fact that I am a pig-fucker. I want to discuss critical issues facing us as a nation today, and which of us has a clearer vision of America's strong future.”See how easy it is?
Run on W’s record!
Stop the madness!
