What fake issues could the Left gin up to hurt Republicans?

[iconoclastNYC]

Think along the lines of what the Right acomplishes with partial birth abortion, gay marriage, war on terror, wars on crime, immigration crack down.....

what are issues we could fight that would damage the republicans like the above listed above.

think creatively. it has to be media savy...something the media would eat up, something that could be easily and universally understood and where the debate is so overwhelming against the republican point of view.

i can't think of anything but maybe someone here could.

[mwb970]

1. Hmm, we aren't doing too well with any of the *real* issues... (n/t)

[baldguy]

4. I think thats the point.

If the neo-cons ran on their positions the *real* issues they'd be laughed at, ignored and marginalized - the way they should be. The only way they got to be where they are is BECAUSE of the fake issues they create.

[hnsez]

33. Bumper Sticker: STOP REPUBLICAN PEDOPHILIA -armchairsubversive.com

[KG]

2. the dem. party doesn't need a fake issue.

telling the truth and standing up for what they (used to) believe in work even better.

[iconoclastNYC]

3. I should have been more clear

Issue of Fake Importance i guess is what i mean.

Which issue sells in the american body politic and inflicts damage by being raised and discussed.

[KG]

6. why should the dem. party use deception?

why not change the paradigm? why not boldly tell the truth about important issues instead of playing the repooks game and still getting their asses handed to them at the polls?

[iconoclastNYC]

8. because we have been doing that

the media is a problem. what we chose to talk about is our biggest asset. we need to talk about the right things, that get traction in the media.

we have to learn from our enemies. the republicans dont talk about the invisible hand of the market. they talk about shit that gets people excited.

that's my point, the issues we raise a stink about have to be 'mediagenic'

[MissWaverly]

23. get the Galloway speech out to hometown America

let the guys at the diner hear how a British member of parliament
called the Iraq invasion a pack of lies, it would have a lot more
of an effect than seeing Hussein in his briefs.

[markus]

24. Galloway and middle America

I think we saw with the british newspaper issue last summer how Americans feel about funny talkin' people telling them how to run their business.

Galloway's message will only be powerful when an American stands up and speaks it

And the person will have to be someone of weight (a Senator, a la Paul Wellstone). And they shouldn't be alone.

We have powerful voices in the House, but no one outside their own districts is listening.

What we almost need is some focusing issue or moment (like the food for oil coverup hearings) to draw attention to it.

[MissWaverly]

25. Galloway is different

he is a conservative, he's the equivalent of what the Republican leadership should be here, I think people would relate to him, (the common man image) and a pack of lies is not fancy language that flies over their heads

[vogonjiltz]

28. He's not conservative at all.

Blair pushed him out of the Labour party because he was to far to the left.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

5. I'll second that motion...

...eom.

[solinvictus]

7. Gun control..

If the Democrats give this issue up publicly and completely, they'll see many single-issue voters who normally dismiss us embrace the party for their own economic interests.

[Heidi]

9. I absolutely agree.

A Libertarian friend recently summed it up like this: "If Democrats offer a solution for allowing people to keep both their guns and their jobs, the Republican Party will be in major trouble."

[iconoclastNYC]

11. Excellent point.

Isn't the head of the DNC NRA blessed?

[solinvictus]

14. Yes, but..

there's still a wing of the Democratic Party that openly caters to Handgun Control, Inc., VPC, the Brady Bunch, and the Million Mommies. DiFi and Schumer have both tried to re-start the War on Guns and their image hurts us all.

[OnionPatch]

27. Yes, you are right

I personally know a good many men who opted out of the Democratic party because of gun laws. More than anything else, I believe a change of stance here would be the most effective.

Other than that, I think the REAL issues are plenty. We just need to get them out there. For one thing, BIRTH CONTROL IS GOING TO BE OUTLAWED if the fundies have their way, and it looks pretty much like they are having their way....

[rndmprsn]

30. agreed...it will be painful to some of us, but i think this is...

the easiest thing we could do to erase this enormous wedge issue the rethugs use against us, very successfully i might add, in rural areas.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. That sounds good on the surface, but .......

..... we've been thought of as being anti-gun for so long that we simply can't drop it from our message. To turn those single issue voters our way, we need to speak in a firmly pro-gun way and disavow our past rhetoric.

I don't think the party's ready to do that ... nor do I, personally want us to do that.

That being said, I think several of our 04 primary persons were close (if not right on) to an appropriate frame.

'Common sense gun laws'

'States' rights gun laws'

.... and so on.

But to think that by not mentioning it we get a pass .... nope .... I think that's so transparent as to be laughable.

Also, we don't need duck hunt photo ops in dress-up cammo ... yanno? That was a good point (Kerry is a sportsman and gun owner) ... but a horrible way to frame it. And it bit him square in the ass.

Nope, we cannot run from our past on this issue. We need to face it head on ...... 'plain spoken' if you will.

[patricia92243]

10. Anything to do with money. Unfortunately, we do not frame things so people

people can EASILY understand them. This means one easy to understand sentence that can be said over and over. In other words use Republican strategy - which works beyond anybody's wildest dreams.

This is one of Bill Clinton's strongest abilities: break things down to an easy to explain statement.

The best example I can think of lately is the filibuster situation. People understand "This is a 200 year old tradition.
Do not say two centuries - the same thing but the 200 years statement has clout the two centuries does not. Also, people will not want to change a 200 year old tradition - IF THEY UNDERSTAND THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING. Too much blah, blah, blah and people don't listen to any of it - much less the important part.

The real example is how many people will bother to read this long epistle of mine?:boring:

[iconoclastNYC]

12. I'm totally on board with framing

And i think it goes to the heart of my suggestion.

[RebelAgainstEmpire]

13. How do you

beat The Party at their own game?

Something the media would eat up? Which media? The liberal one?

Other than complaining that we have all the power when we have none, the way that the Republicans complain about having no power when they have it all, I don't know what to do.

The problem is that we no longer have the economics on our side. When jobs can be moved half way around the world, you can't have any impact. As we fight for higher wages, they control and move the jobs away. Or implement technology, further reducing the need for humans.

Yes, that should eventually lead to a tipping point. But when you have to feed your kids, any wage is better than nothing.

[Smarmie Doofus]

15. Hmmm... you mean a "diversion from diversion", so to speak?

That's tough; we're not so good at that. Off the top of my head: how about a RW plot to eliminate what used to be called "t and a" content from all broadcast and cable TV?

This would resonate with many red voters who don't want their true religion (vicarious sex and other forms of mindless, instant gratification) fiddled with in this way and at the same time be, well, maybe halfway true... since some fundamentalists have probably proposed this at one time or another. If they haven't , they might actually like the idea.

A potential wedge issue between two core GOP constituencies.

[mandyky]

16. We need a study on standard of living, which has decreased

for the middle class. Also diseases such as autism and how it is connected to the environment and the polluting republicans. We also need to be relentless in the idea that republican politicians lie constantly - they do not want public education or social security, so belieing they want to reform it or fix it is ridiculous. Their true fix is to destroy any social safety nets. They only care about cheap labor workers, but could care less about the homeless or the hungry. And how has faith-based charities helped? I've read that charitable giving is way down, the food banks are hurting with more people needing their services.

[B Calm]

17. Point out that the GOP is the party of cheap labor.. But then

that is not a fake issue.. hmmm have to give this some more thought..

[hnsez]

18. gay bashing sells

they endorse it and it sells votes

[Andy_Stephenson]

29. Just exactly WHAT

do you mean?

[hnsez]

32. Its the Neocons Biggest Emotion Issus IMO

There was this Bitch classic neocon wnech in my hood handing out brochures about how Kerry want Gay boyscout troop leaders.

An amazing number of americans are just plain stupid and easily swayed in their vote by this issue

We HAVE to come up with a way to defeat them at this game where they exploit homophobia

[Just Me]

19. Republicans serve unprincipled profiteers, not "the people".

Where is that HUGE debt the Republicans are creating going? Not to programs that advanced the interests of the people. Those programs are being cut or pushed into the hands of unprincipled profiteers.

Who is benefitting from the war in Iraq? It's clear it had nothing to do with protecting our freedom. Unprinciple energy profiteers, arms/security profiteers, "reconstruction" profiteers and finance profiteers are making big bucks on the blood and treasure of Americans.

What Americans are getting in return: dead and disabled soldiers, HUGE debt, fewer jobs, less assistance for the weak and oppressed, higher energy prices, lower quality of life, less security and protection, great uncertainty and fear about the future, and a daily blitz of bullshit and lies on PUBLIC airways.

I'm not making this shit up!!! It's the truth, THE WHOLE TRUTH!!! Only that truth will set our people free!!!

[Vinca]

20. Hmmmm . . . haven't we got enough real issues to gin up?

Take health care, for example. There must be as many Republicans as Democrats unable to afford insurance. Then there's gas prices. Republicans drive, too. I'm betting the gay people who want to marry are going to become less and less important as each day goes by.

[immoderate]

21. I disagree with looking for fake issues.

Any success would backfire. There are enough real issues. Perhaps we can present them better. Sure there will be dirty tricks along the way, but we can not build our position on false premises.

"You can't fool all of the people all of the time..." The Republicans, who rely on false issues, will eventually run out of rope. If not, then maybe democracy is a bad idea. But we dont believe that. That's why we're Democrats.

--IMM

[Zorbuddha]

22. Fakery is the province of the Right

Once the Left accepts and adopts such strategies...they win.

[Old and In the Way]

26. UN "Oil For Food" Program

Our Congresspeople should start a high profile investigation into UN corruption on the Oil for Food program. Use this as a springboard to expose the Republican Big Oil interests, including the kingpin Dick Cheney, role in trading with Saddam. Include Congressional testimony from British MP's who could forcefully refute and redirect the focus on the issue back to the corrupt criminals who were responsible.

Oh wait, Norm Coleman's already done that.