We are losing sight of our biggest campaign weapon

[Bandit]

The Deficit. We need to hammer and hammer over and over again about the Deficit. I read an article in last night's paper about RVers and the high price of gas. One couple was quoted as saying "three things were discussed in the RV Parks. The high price of Gas, The War in Iraq, and the Deficit". All were considered extremely important to the retired persons who like to travel. This should be our number one issue. The Deficit grows and grows and grows and grows. Make noise about it because it truly matters.

[coloradodem2005]

1. Might not be such a bad idea.

[TheDebbieDee]

2. The need for a draft if we continue...........

under another 4 years of this moron's foreign policy should be emphasized as well.

Bush's "Let's go it alone and damn the expenses" attitude is going to get alot of young people killed with the surviving young people shouldering the debt.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. ayuh :^(

[sniffa]

4. iraquiLLion

iraqiLLion - The difference between the surplus at the end of the Clinton administration and the deficit at the end of the shrub administration.

And yes Why, that's a figure that will continue to mutate and grow... but hopefully not for much longer.

[jobycom]

5. I could not agree more. It's the one thing that won't change before Novemb

Many other hot-button issues, like the economy, job growth, gas prices, even Iraq, have the potential for a temporary upswing before November. If we pin our arguments on any of them, Bush will fidget the numbers to look good just in time to undermine Kerry.

But the deficit won't go away. And it is the exact opposite of what most conservatives claim they want. It's the perfect wedge issue. Cheney's comments to Paul O'Neil prove how out of touch they are on the issue. And it destroyed Bush's daddy.

And, incidentally, it is rather important to the future of the nation, so it isn't just politics. They squandered a trillion dollar deficit on their little power games. Americans don't seem to care about a quarter million dead by our hands, but they sure don't want their buying power to go down.

[bryant69]

6. Yeah but

1. Not to diminish the importance of the deficit (which I think is very important), but I still think the Bush Administrations botched policies in Iraq are our number one weapon.

2. We need to educate people on the deficit and explain exactly how it hurts them personally. Statements like "Your kids will have to pay it off." may not resonate that well. A better tack is to explain how the deficit squeezes the available supply of credit leaveng less for people to buy homes or cars or to smart small businesses.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Bandit]

8. Or that the interest payments alone equal what we spend on Defense

If we eliminate the interest payments of four hundred billion a year and likely to increase if interest rates go up for inflation we can do all the social good that this country was once famous for.

[Terran]

7. Sorry, I find this hard to believe

Sure, economic issues are the most important to people, but the defecit? It's too abstract, people don't see how it affects them personally. Jobs, job loss, unemployment, the price of gas and milk, lack of health care, these are what people experience in their daily lives and get pissed off about, not abstract numbers.

[maggrwaggr]

11. no, the deficit drives real conservatives bonkers

they fucking hate deficits. It's a hair in their ass.

[Terran]

12. Yes, I know that, but

how many people actually think of themselves, consciously, as "real" "conservatives"? The political right wing is maybe 10% of the population, same with the political left wing like us at DU. And then maybe half of that 10% are traditional conservatives who actually remember that there's a philosophy behind their politcs, and not just hate. But you get the other 80% of the population who don't "do" politics normally, and for them the defecit is about economics, and therefore boring.

Nah, there's no way the defecit is sexy enough for the average voter to get riled up about.

[Goose3five]

9. People don't understand the implications

The Deficit is such a vague topic for American's to grasp, we lead with the Deficit and the GOP leads with Gay Marriage, Abortion, and Guns. We need a topic that grabs people emotionally like Civil Liberties (Patriot Act), Corporate Malfeasance and the role of the White House, or the repeated lying of this administration (justification for war, Cheney's Halliburton connections, etc., etc. and so on).

[Bandit]

10. Yes we've done real well with those issues so far right????

Conservatives are starting to grumble. When respected people are grumbling the "lessor" take notice and even if they don't understand all the intricate details they know that if the one that they admire is not happy then they shouldn't be either. Believe it or not there are some people in America that still have a portion of their brain with which to think about important issues. They will always give a pass to an Administration involved in warfare when some atrocities are revealed. They are considered isolated and will not believe the people at the top would allow them. The deficit however effects everyone. Most intelligent people know that and realize how important it is.