If Dems don’t campaign against this, they are refusing a great gift. They are running against candidates of a party that’s promised to raise taxes on 50 million households, end legal abortion, supports an ex-president who tried to lead an insurrection, refuses to investigate a violent attack on the Capitol, bans books, and writes laws that incent citizens to sue one another. Gee, if only there were real, pithy issues to campaign on.
Yes of course, this is a no brainer. Dem’s shy away from anything that looks like “negative campaigning” even when it’s just pointing out the truth. I’m sorry but we need to retire the “when they go low, we go high” ethos. How’s that worked out? When R’s give us weapons like the Scott plan, use them mercilessly.
What really eating away at my morale is the increasing disconnect between congressional Dem’s agenda and economic issues that would appeal to a wide swath of Dem voters. When I look at Congress these days I see members whining about proposed restrictions on stock trading. Legislation to stabilize Social Security goes nowhere, but the House recently passed legislation to give high earners the chance to accumulate even more tax free savings in their 401K or IRA. ACA subsidies are set to expire this year and it’s estimated that more than 3 million people will lose health care coverage if they aren’t extended. Is Dem leadership planning high profile stand-alone votes (not buried in opaque omnibus legislation) to defend these popular programs? I fear not, at least not in time to convince voters that a Dem majority in November matters.
Democrats should run against Rick Scott's agenda and use the photo of Madison Cawthorn in drag to represent every Republican -- two-faced and fraudulent. Is there anyone in the party with the nerve to argue our case TO WIN?
Definitely campaign against the Scott plan. Emphasize the need to enact or preserve the opposite such as maintaining social security and Medicare. I also agree that the Democrats must try to be as loud and as persistent as possible. By all means reject defeatism which feeds on itself. Ban the word! Say we are going to win in all cases where there's a reasonable chance of energizing both new and old supporters.
Democrats need to open a 24/7 war room to put out a clear and consistent message every day especially on weekends. Amplification and repetition is key. Amplification and repetition is key. They have something called a war room but it clearly isn’t a war room. Voters need to hear the exact same message a thousand times at least before they vote for it. And they need to hear it exactly the same from every Democrat on TV. It’s such a simple idea but seemingly impossible for Democrats to implement. Republicans otoh get it. MAGA. Build the Wall. Defund the Police. It needs to fit on a bumper sticker. Benghazi. You know right away what they are talking about. The way to win is go negative early and often, accuse your opponent of being too negative, and deny that you are going negative. It works every time.
"Democrats do not have to be too concerned about [Scott's plan]. Republicans treat Defund the Police — a position pushed by activists and opposed by nearly every elected Democrat in the country — as if it was a core part of the party’s platform."
Except that we do have to worry about it, because the GOP gets to say what it wants and have it amplified by FOX et al, while most voters don't learn more about an issue than headlines and soundbites.
What do we *do* about that? Well, we can all do the most basic stuff like spread the word on social media, but until the DNC gets its act together and starts hammering home a focused and (sadly) simplistic set of messages the GOP will hold the upper hand.
Yes, this is the 100% right approach. Make voters absolutely fear and dread the outcome if R's take over. Make it a matter of life-and-death-- an existential issue. Talk about all the people who will suffer and potentially die with these spending cuts. Also, make sure to tie this directly to the 2017 R tax cut that massively benefited giant corporations who then used the windfall for stock buybacks, only to now price-gouge the American people every chance they get. Then contrast that with Biden's plan to lower costs, and how he has reduced the deficit without this radical R plan. After you win, you can be rationale, reasonable, and worry about fact-checkers. But during the campaign? No way. Campaign with the "Id", govern with the "Superego". Unfortunately, none of this will matter unless inflation recedes to a reasonable level. But, at least go down fighting!
Absolutely publicize that a Republican majority will do these things and more. It’s almost as if they expect their voters to be so excited at a chance to build the wall and name it after their hero they won’t notice their own pockets are being picked at the same time…
1. Raise taxes on half of Americans including senior citizens;
2. Sunset all federal legislation including Social Security and Medicare in five years;
3. Build a wall on the Southern border named after Donald Trump.
And also publicize the Biden Administration proposals to “Tax the Billionaires”. For some great shareable content on wealth disoarity/taxing billionaires, follow Americans for Tax Fairness (coalition of over 400 organizations, including unions) on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks to Scott for putting these GOP ideas in writing! Use them in every campaign ad, brochure, and speech, over and over ad nauseum. Create the terms and sound bites as suggested below. Also add the point so effectively handled by mother McMorrow, the GOP attempt to label Dems and their appointees as pedophiles and soft on pornography. GOP closet is full of pedophiles like Roy Moore!
I worry a bit about overusing "existential," even though the word absolutely does describe the choices we face. People are becoming deaf to the word and its implications. Go with the specifics of what Repubs plan to do, as so well emphasized here by Dan and by many commenters.
Atta’ boy, Dan. Glenn Kessler has been pompously promoting his ideas of “truth” for quite some time now. You not only took him down a peg, you took him down the full ladder.
Ukraine needs to be covered extensively, but I think one of the biggest problems, politically, is that nothing bad or good domestically can break through.
I check WaPo every few hours, and Ukraine is at the top, no matter the domestic magnitude. I see the occasional news alert banner at the top periodically when someone dies or some random story, but that’s it.
It was the much-out-of-fashion Bill Clinton who said he was baffled at how Republicans could absolutely stink the place up when in power, sneak out the back door, walk around the block, and present themselves as the moral and responsible alternative. Man, that is still a hell of a puzzle.
And when we comment upon what the Republicans would do if back in power, it’s not that they would “sunset” Social Security and Medicare, but rather that they would “and” Social Security and Medicare.
If Dems don’t campaign against this, they are refusing a great gift. They are running against candidates of a party that’s promised to raise taxes on 50 million households, end legal abortion, supports an ex-president who tried to lead an insurrection, refuses to investigate a violent attack on the Capitol, bans books, and writes laws that incent citizens to sue one another. Gee, if only there were real, pithy issues to campaign on.
Yes of course, this is a no brainer. Dem’s shy away from anything that looks like “negative campaigning” even when it’s just pointing out the truth. I’m sorry but we need to retire the “when they go low, we go high” ethos. How’s that worked out? When R’s give us weapons like the Scott plan, use them mercilessly.
What really eating away at my morale is the increasing disconnect between congressional Dem’s agenda and economic issues that would appeal to a wide swath of Dem voters. When I look at Congress these days I see members whining about proposed restrictions on stock trading. Legislation to stabilize Social Security goes nowhere, but the House recently passed legislation to give high earners the chance to accumulate even more tax free savings in their 401K or IRA. ACA subsidies are set to expire this year and it’s estimated that more than 3 million people will lose health care coverage if they aren’t extended. Is Dem leadership planning high profile stand-alone votes (not buried in opaque omnibus legislation) to defend these popular programs? I fear not, at least not in time to convince voters that a Dem majority in November matters.
Democrats should run against Rick Scott's agenda and use the photo of Madison Cawthorn in drag to represent every Republican -- two-faced and fraudulent. Is there anyone in the party with the nerve to argue our case TO WIN?
Definitely campaign against the Scott plan. Emphasize the need to enact or preserve the opposite such as maintaining social security and Medicare. I also agree that the Democrats must try to be as loud and as persistent as possible. By all means reject defeatism which feeds on itself. Ban the word! Say we are going to win in all cases where there's a reasonable chance of energizing both new and old supporters.
Democrats need to open a 24/7 war room to put out a clear and consistent message every day especially on weekends. Amplification and repetition is key. Amplification and repetition is key. They have something called a war room but it clearly isn’t a war room. Voters need to hear the exact same message a thousand times at least before they vote for it. And they need to hear it exactly the same from every Democrat on TV. It’s such a simple idea but seemingly impossible for Democrats to implement. Republicans otoh get it. MAGA. Build the Wall. Defund the Police. It needs to fit on a bumper sticker. Benghazi. You know right away what they are talking about. The way to win is go negative early and often, accuse your opponent of being too negative, and deny that you are going negative. It works every time.
"Democrats do not have to be too concerned about [Scott's plan]. Republicans treat Defund the Police — a position pushed by activists and opposed by nearly every elected Democrat in the country — as if it was a core part of the party’s platform."
Except that we do have to worry about it, because the GOP gets to say what it wants and have it amplified by FOX et al, while most voters don't learn more about an issue than headlines and soundbites.
What do we *do* about that? Well, we can all do the most basic stuff like spread the word on social media, but until the DNC gets its act together and starts hammering home a focused and (sadly) simplistic set of messages the GOP will hold the upper hand.
Yes, this is the 100% right approach. Make voters absolutely fear and dread the outcome if R's take over. Make it a matter of life-and-death-- an existential issue. Talk about all the people who will suffer and potentially die with these spending cuts. Also, make sure to tie this directly to the 2017 R tax cut that massively benefited giant corporations who then used the windfall for stock buybacks, only to now price-gouge the American people every chance they get. Then contrast that with Biden's plan to lower costs, and how he has reduced the deficit without this radical R plan. After you win, you can be rationale, reasonable, and worry about fact-checkers. But during the campaign? No way. Campaign with the "Id", govern with the "Superego". Unfortunately, none of this will matter unless inflation recedes to a reasonable level. But, at least go down fighting!
Absolutely publicize that a Republican majority will do these things and more. It’s almost as if they expect their voters to be so excited at a chance to build the wall and name it after their hero they won’t notice their own pockets are being picked at the same time…
1. Raise taxes on half of Americans including senior citizens;
2. Sunset all federal legislation including Social Security and Medicare in five years;
3. Build a wall on the Southern border named after Donald Trump.
And also publicize the Biden Administration proposals to “Tax the Billionaires”. For some great shareable content on wealth disoarity/taxing billionaires, follow Americans for Tax Fairness (coalition of over 400 organizations, including unions) on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks to Scott for putting these GOP ideas in writing! Use them in every campaign ad, brochure, and speech, over and over ad nauseum. Create the terms and sound bites as suggested below. Also add the point so effectively handled by mother McMorrow, the GOP attempt to label Dems and their appointees as pedophiles and soft on pornography. GOP closet is full of pedophiles like Roy Moore!
I worry a bit about overusing "existential," even though the word absolutely does describe the choices we face. People are becoming deaf to the word and its implications. Go with the specifics of what Repubs plan to do, as so well emphasized here by Dan and by many commenters.
Atta’ boy, Dan. Glenn Kessler has been pompously promoting his ideas of “truth” for quite some time now. You not only took him down a peg, you took him down the full ladder.
Ukraine needs to be covered extensively, but I think one of the biggest problems, politically, is that nothing bad or good domestically can break through.
I check WaPo every few hours, and Ukraine is at the top, no matter the domestic magnitude. I see the occasional news alert banner at the top periodically when someone dies or some random story, but that’s it.
What should be our strategy and tactics to make this happen? We’re running out of time.
How did some of our Congresswomen unseat Dinosaur Democrats?
It was the much-out-of-fashion Bill Clinton who said he was baffled at how Republicans could absolutely stink the place up when in power, sneak out the back door, walk around the block, and present themselves as the moral and responsible alternative. Man, that is still a hell of a puzzle.
Great plan. Let's get going!
And when we comment upon what the Republicans would do if back in power, it’s not that they would “sunset” Social Security and Medicare, but rather that they would “and” Social Security and Medicare.