If the Democrats want to kick some ass, they have to mimic the Repubs in a fundamental way. They have to stake out their own territory, and defend it with easy to digest talking points.
In this way, the Republicans, with the help of the hapless and very conservative main stream media have created an America where Goldman Sachs and Walmart are small businesses, and the wealthiest 2% need tax relief so that working families can survive an economic catastrophe caused by the top 2%. The term was "job creators."
They defined the middle class as $250,000 per year income. $400,000 for a family. These are numbers that the Democrats accepted without a serious alternative.
They are going to steal your Social Security, that you've already paid into, separate from your income taxes AND Medicare. They said "deficit" and "runaway spending." They got our Democratic president to appoint a commission that proposes kicking the shit out of us, holding us by the ankles, and letting the change rain out of our pockets so that millionaires can scoop it up and move it to an off-shore tax haven.
The problem with these one to four word sound bites that the Republicans are so good at creating is that their rebuttal takes many more words. You have to be willing to fight hard and often to refute them. These Dems suck at that in the worst way. That's why I propose not fighting each issue, but staking out an alternative position, and broadcasting it in the simplest terms. Start with numbers.
First number: 100,000. 94% of Americans earn less than $100,000 dollars per year. The median income is under 40,000, and the average is under 50,000, but keep it simple. Do like the stores do, and make it $99,000. Retake the definition of the middle class by using this number. The juxtaposition of a five-digit number to $250,000 is powerful.
Second Number: $2 Billion. This is how much Afghanistan costs us every week. I never hear this repeated regularly, no matter how often I hear about wasteful spending. Hammer this home, two billion mother fucking dollars each week, and shut those fools up - and maybe even end the useless war.
There are other numbers that would be just as powerful, depending on which position you want to stake out. But for christ's sake, slap us with numbers that create a reality that is closer to, well...reality.
Now, here are some short, sound-bite talking points for the liberals to lob like grenades into the debates.
"Stealing our money" This is what politicians or pundits need to say when the inevitable debate over entitlements comes up again. Any cuts in Social Security amount to a theft, and you will be labeled a thief if you advocate for reductions of any kind. "Boner, you're a thief!" "President Obama, you're a thief!" "Alan Simpson, you're an asshole, and a thief!" If they try to take our money, put the thief label on them. If enough do it, the media has to ask the question: "are you a thief?" Remember, it is the question that is important, not so much the answer.
"Hurting American families" Sunday talking head: "Senator McConnell, you recently held 911 heroes money hostage to continue a tax loophole that allows corporations to create jobs overseas. Doesn't that hurt American families?" See, it is the question that matters. It doesn't matter what McConnell says after this. He has to answer in more than three words, and he looks like a fucking ghoul. It's game over if it happens over, and over, and over. It's time for Democrats to take 'family values' away from the Republicans. Let's say clearly that we value families being able to feed themselves, and that Republican policies stand in the way of that.
"Opportunity and accountability" I believe it was Cenk Uygur from TYT that said this, or something very much like it, as the motto for the Democrats; to counter the Republican Party's "less government and lower taxes." If you want to know what Dems stand for, for the love of Poseidon don't send them to the Democratic Party's website to read their platform. Just say those three words. They are simple, malleable, positive and lend themselves to the idea that government is a good thing in the hands of responsible people.
This is just a start. Take the framing away from those who would have you believe that average earners bring home a quarter million per year, and want corporations to pay no taxes, even if that means we get no Social Security. This is the framing we are stuck with currently, and the framing that drives the White House and Congressional leadership. A few simple, but oft-repeated phrases can begin to take the middle back to the left. It will take some discipline, something lacking completely in Democratic politics, but it is an easy way to change the chessboard without direct conflict, which this crop of Democratic leaders seems to avoid so completely.
Primary challengers - this is your opportunity. Keep it simple, keep it real (real numbers, anyway), and say it often.
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