Tuesday, July 11, 2006

A General Election Commercial

Republicans have closed your schools, they've cut your police and fire departments down, made you less safe, put your kids' futures in danger, created a "giant sucking sound" ... of jobs and residents fleeing from our state,

[and they]

created the pothole that popped your tire.


My name is Deval/Tom/Chris and I'll solve these problems. Vote for me and we can all take part in making Massachusetts an even better place for us all to live in.

Paid for by Chris/Tom/Deval for Governor.

The quotes come from Centralmaguy on this thread and I thought it was brilliantly strong-worded, yet poignant; it's the sort of ad which can deliver votes.

Use of language is paramount in an election. Not only do Democrats have to be clear, but messages must distinguish the systematic differences between Democrats and Republicans - which is one of the key components to victory. If Democrats want to win more often around the country, no point will help propel us to victory more than this: Republicans either create or ignore problems, Democrats solve them. Republicans think we're all on our own, to scavenge our bread and water; Democrats think we're all in this together.

From immigration (such as the McCain-Kennedy bill, if House Repubs didn't derail it) to pay-as-you-go, budget-surplus government (Clinton - not Bush, Bush or Reagan), the prognosis rings true everytime. Now let's help propel one of the three (and hopefully the current front-runner, Deval Patrick) to victory.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think democrats suck at problem solving (and in all fairness, republicans have trouble with empathy) so mabye we should just make a third party that does that...thing...whats it called...ugh...tip of my tongue...OH! COMPROMISE! that's it..sorry, its been so long since someone mentioned that word.

this is why i miss politics from the 1860s to 1933, (along with eisenhower) because it was the age of back-room compromises, and stuff got done.

Here's deal number 1, you make cindy sheehan go away, and I'll make pat robertson dissapear. deal? It'd make a good Ad. "Hi, I'm deval patrick, I'll make backroom deals to increase fee-market economics in exchange for the republicans hushing over my civil rights extravagaza. Gabs won't, he likes 'transparency'"

I'd vote for that.

Ryan said...

I had a long reply that got ate up by a lousy internet connection, so I'll have to be brief in my second attempt.

The politics of the early 1900s to 1933, the Gilded Age, is looked down upon by the vast majority of society. It was so detested that it led to the New Deal, in which a new politics of hope was bread.

With that said, recent trends indicate that democrats are better at running government than republicans. What do republicans do with their time? Be it Frist or Hastert, waste waste waste time, money and effort - be it on pet projects, or by using weeks of floor time on issues ranging from Terry Schiavo to the flag amendment.

Those certainly aren't the kind of issues which balance the budget or solve the immigration problem.

Immigration is a perfect example of Democrats trying to get government to work. Ted Kennedy, along with McCain, created a truly bipartisan bill that enjoyed a lot of support. However, when Republicans realized they could capitalize on immigration, the truth is the didn't want that bill to pass - especially the House. And why? Mostly because of Republicans.

When Clinton was in charge, there was a lot of bipartisan effort - and a lot of compromising by Democrats. They didn't stick on tough issues -- to emphasize their toughness and "win." Part of the whole right's schpeel is that they like decisive issues... and winning on them.

Clinton's vast majority of court picks were relatively moderate, mainly emphasizing diversity over politics. Bush? He's tried to push far right judges into the Appellate courts left and right - and during his first term, with little regard towards diversity.

Clinton worked with guys like Newt Gingrich - who I know you like - and got the bugdet balanced, while also putting America in good shape to perform well economically.

So Democrats make things work, in large part by not being spoiled brats and refusing to work together. Republicans love deciveness and buzz issues; they play politics instead of run government.

Here's the bottom line: If Republicans were significantly better at solving problems, there should be far fewer than there are today. They own the White House, they own the House of Representatives and they have a sizable majority in the Senate. Quite frankly, there are no excuses for this Republican government and we need significant changes.

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