How to win: Tell the truth about the Republicans

[johan helge]

A big problem is that the Republicans have managed to associate Republicans with American values, family values etc., while the truth is that they are a (half-)criminal gang which takes only the interests of (very) rich people seriously. The solution to this is perhaps simply to tell the voters the truth about the Republicans. Example: Why was Bush's insider trading with Harken stocks not a big issue in 2000 and 2004? (Imagine if Gore or Kerry had done anything like this.)

[unblock]

1. tell the truth, but be sure to pack an emotional punch

logic alone no longer works, thanks to the banana republicans only playing on the lower ground. pity, but we need to compete there as well.

so by all means, tell the truth, but show contempt for the opposition as well. humiliate those who tell lies, embarass those who fall for the banana republican tricks.

convince them that only fools buy into banana republican lies.

[mom cat]

2. and don't buy into the DLC arguments about soft peddling our core issues.

[OneBlueSky]

3. absolutely . . . most Americans get their "news" from tv . . .

and newspapers . . . which means they're ill-informed, misinformed and/or uninformed about most issues . . . they don't know the truth because nobody is telling them the truth . . . if the Democrats would become the party of truth-telling -- about everything -- they'd win in a landslide (although the vote tabulations may not show that, of course) . . .

[seabeyond]

4. they do. media doesnt talk about what the dems say, they go after

democrats are angry. kerry gives a speech, gives the plan.... they dont talk about what he said in the speech, they say, is he a flip flopper, dems have no plan, they only attack bush....

there is a lot of truth telling being said, but none talks about the substance

[johan helge]

6. I agree, the media help the Republicans

but one example: In the debates between Kerry and Bush, Kerry talked only about the issues - he did not go into corruption/insider trading, or dirty Republican tricks, or biased media. Perhaps he should have done that?

[seabeyond]

7. good point, a couple thought. kerry talked policy and media

said he was attacking bush. then bush and swift boat did there stuff and media would say both parties do it. kerry never got the credit, or acknowledgment from media ergo american people that their campaign was run as the american people said they wanted. talk about policy, NO attack policy. if kerry did say anything, or kinda, or even thought about it (the dem convention) media was relentless in dissing the dem. and hurt the campaign.

this si a phenomenon that we haven't experienced before in our lifetime.

[johan helge]

10. The Dems should not let the media stop them from telling the truth

If the Democrats have a point that should be relevant for the voters, I think they should say it, even if the media call it "attacks". And they should emphasize the truth - that no one is perfect regarding corruption, dirty tricks etc. - but the Republicans are much, much worse than the Dems. Example: Bush's pilot career was a true story, the Swift boat story was not.

[seabeyond]

11. bush pilot career was a true story in that bush came up missing a lot

bush was taken off of plains. documents were shredded. that was the truth and rathers lost his job. and swift boat wasnt true. media even started saying not true and put them on and let swift boat talk for twenty minutes. dems two years ago werent as good at immediately going after it, but they are learning. both kerry and dean,.... and kennedy, boxer, feingold, hillary and others some. they are getting it. but still media doesnt "allow" dem to get message out. so saying it isnt going to make it happen. gotta get it out with our bloggers, instead of blogger attacking dems too, they should spend their time going after msm.... and getting our dems message out

[johan helge]

13. I've seen Hillary tell the truth about the Repubs

and that was really something, they are more cynical than even I knew (they consciously make politics into trash, so that decent people won't be active, and won't vote). Hillary is the best speaker the Dems have, I hope she becomes the next President. Ok, I gotta go, thanks!

[Wheres the Outrage]

15. Unfortunately Kerry gave the republicans ammunition

by not signing the release of his records while Bush had. Made it seem he was hiding something and the Swift Boats vets got credibility. :banghead:

[seabeyond]

16. oh bullshit that bush signed it further there was evidence that

that bus had records fried. the credibility came in to untrue stories. kerry signed the same thing that bush did. certain people in hte navy worked with the swift boat to "investigate" kerry which was a total red herring allowing people to say, well navy says. it was all clearly bullshit adn repugs fed it and media sucked it up and giggled.

[kentuck]

5. With the present media operations, I have little confidence...

No matter what is said, they can twist it to suit political purposes.

If you say, "Jesus is good."

They will say Democrats are trying to play the religious card in hopes of taking votes away from the Republicans, but they are not sincere. It is desperate politics.

Then what do you say? That is the predicament that the Democratic Party finds itself.

[iconoclastNYC]

8. Thier real agenda:

One: Eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment and all other componets of the social safety net.

Two: Leverage the compliant Supreme Court to create a constitutional dictatorship

Three: Eliminate all restrictions on corporations and capital

Four: Transfer the tax burden from those most able to pay to those least able to pay

Five: Merge state and religious power

[Wilber_Stool]

9. Remember this:

I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.
Adlai E. Stevenson

[PhilipShore]

12. Liberals have been fighting the Republicans for over 60 years....

The Democrats -- in the majority -- of the Democratic party (whom are not liberals) simply need to become liberal Democrats to counter the Republcans -- because liberalism -- has by and large won the issues it has wanted to against them.

JFK was a -- liberal Democrat --and he was one of the greatest presidents ever.

Turn Left: What is a Liberal?

http://www.cjnetworks.com/~cubsfan/whatis.html

Sen. John F. Kennedy, acceptance of the New York Liberal Party Nomination, September 14, 1960.

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

But first, I would like to say what I understand the word "Liberal" to mean and explain in the process why I consider myself to be a "Liberal," and what it means in the presidential election of 1960.

In short, having set forth my view -- I hope for all time -- two nights ago in Houston, on the proper relationship between church and state, I want to take the opportunity to set forth my views on the proper relationship between the state and the citizen. This is my political credo:

I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.

[Johonny]

14. How to win

Americans stop listening to what Republicans say and start watching what they really do.