Dem election strategy: The Hill - "Democrats add a new C to corruption"

[Pirate Smile]

From The Hill:

Democrats add a new C to corruption
By Josephine Hearn

As Democrats mull when and how to introduce an election-year agenda, some party leaders have already begun to broaden the now-familiar Democratic refrain of a "culture of corruption, cronyism, incompetence and cover-up" to add a new alliterative element: costs.

-snip-
The new phrase allows them to segue from ethical abuses to pocketbook issues such as prescriptions drugs, energy prices and tuition costs, where they contend that Republicans have fallen under the sway of industry lobbyists and rewarded special interests to the detriment of average voters.
"There is a very focused determination to educate the public … that this isn't just some inside-the-Beltway thing but that it has a direct relationship to their lives," a House Democratic leadership aide said. "I think we've recognized the need to do this for a while, but we are clearly now making the very aggressive transition."

-snip-
"What bothers people the most about corruption is not the fouling of the process but the impact on real things - energy prices, the Iraq war and Medicare reform. Those are 'facts' that upset people the most," Democracy Corps principals Stan Greenberg and James Carville wrote in a Jan. 31 memo to supporters. "The corruption scandal is all about energy, Iraq, and the prescription drug mess — the dominant issues for the public."

Democratic strategists say the new phrase helps combine two aspects of their message: Republican corruption and the squeeze on the middle class.
"It is one phrase that encapsulates the general feeling, something that describes what corruption means and how it affects people," said a Democratic strategist who works on developing messages.

http://hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/021406/news3.html

[mzmolly]

1. "C" ool!

:toast:

I like this idea.

[mzmolly]

4. .

[Pirate Smile]

2. If they can explain this connection between the corruption of the GOP

Congress and how it is screwing over the American Middle Class and all tax payers, that will be an extremely effective message - IMO.

[Pirate Smile]

3. kick

[mzmolly]

5. "Corruption, cronyism, cover-up, costs"

Criminal!

[gratuitous]

6. Keeping it simple

I like it. Folks can remember things like this easier, and heaven knows we've seen how successful the GOP has been in the last quarter century mindlessly repeating the same worn phrases over and over again, whether they're true or not. And the Democrats have the advantage of being absolutely truthful when they talk about GOP corruption, cronyism, incompetence, cover-up and costs.