Why the Dems are barking up the wrong tree.

[Dinner]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3227665.stm

There seems to be two points which all of the Democratic candidates running for President seem to be focusing on 1) Bush lied about Iraq & isn't doing a good job supervising the occupation, and 2) He's done a poor job managing the nation's economy. I'd say both are true but #1 doesn't seem to get any traction with voters and it ends up making the Dems look whiners who have nothing positive to add. Seven of the candidates basically say they'd do the same thing which Bush is currently doing (i.e. stay the course and work towards building a democratic western leaning Iraq) with the others say we should drop everything and run. Polls show most Americas think Iraq will become an even bigger problem if the US doesn't try to finish what it started and the seven who agree with Bush aren't going to win votes by claiming to be proto-Bushes.

So far the only issue which has been gaining traction is the economic issue. Unfortunately, the economy is now coming around with unexpected strength and though none of it has to do with Bush's tax cuts (since most of his tax cuts haven't even occured yet) there is no doubt Bush will get up and try to claim he's policy is what fixed the economy (instead of end of an economic cycle which most economist say is responsible for the cyclical upswing).

So here's the question: If you were a candidate which issues would you highlight and who would you show that you are better and have a different vision then Bush? I really do think Bush's tax and spend policies and sky high debts are truly bad for our country but I believe the American voter is to stupid to care about such unexciting things as the national debt, bad tax policies, or over commitment of military forces. How do you get voters attention?

[MichaeltheGreat]

It's the economy, stupid.


Criticism of the Iraq policy should really be minimized until you at least have a decisive front-runner, and see how mired in the ****hole we still are when the election is coming around.

[Spiffor]

Shouldn't the Dems blame Bush for the deficit spending, and for all the social ills that befell on the US (sucky public education, no welfare, corporate corruption etc.) ?

[chequita guevara]

In most current polls I've read, the handling of the situation in Iraq is hurting the Prez.

We reached a new milestone yesterday. More soldiers killed since the end of major combat than during.

Plus, are we likely to see three million new jobs created in the next year? That's just to get us back to what we had before he took office. That doesn't take into account population growth.

[chequita guevara]

Interesting factoid I read in Jon Coneson's Big Lies today. In 1994, when the Dum's controlled Congress and the White House, the average Dum controled district had $35 million more in pork projects than the average Repug district. Today, the average Repug district has $612 million more in pork projects than the average Dum district. Fiscal responsibility my ass.

Since 1995, when the Repugs took control, discretionary spending has rising more than 50% and the number of pork projects has risen by thousands (total 8,300 as of this year)!

[MichaeltheGreat]

Public education shouldn't be a Federal issue at all (I'm to the right of both parties on that one, although Reagan at least gave lip service to dissolving the Department of Education)

Welfare is among the most obscene words in the American political vocabulary, especially when uttered by a Dem.

Corporate corruption (the Enrondotcom fraud bubbles unfortunately have their roots in the "economic growth" of the Clinton administration.

Basically, deficits and unemployment are it until we get close enough to the election for meaningful criticism on Iraq.

[DanS]

If you were a candidate which issues would you highlight and who would you show that you are better and have a different vision then Bush?

I would hit him on health care. The prescription drug benefit for medicare that was promised is not going to materialize. Further, the prices for health care have risen strongly.

I might try to wrap some of the state problems around the neck of the prez (even though I realize that this is totally unfair). Tuition is rising at a very fast clip.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Interesting factoid I read in Jon Coneson's Big Lies today. In 1994, when the Dum's controlled Congress and the White House, the average Dum controled district had $35 million more in pork projects than the average Repug district. Today, the average Repug district has $612 million more in pork projects than the average Dum district. Fiscal responsibility my ass.

Since 1995, when the Repugs took control, discretionary spending has rising more than 50% and the number of pork projects has risen by thousands (total 8,300 as of this year)!

Of course, this all depends on how you define "pork projects" Both sides play that game to the hilt, and projects in my district are "essential to our national ___________" while projects in your district are pork.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Corporate corruption (the Enrondotcom fraud bubbles unfortunately have their roots in the "economic growth" of the Clinton administration.

Actually, they have their roots in the deregulation of the 1980s. Bush pulled the same stuff at Harken that Enron and all the rest got in trouble for much later. It's just that the Clinton Admin didn't do much about it, and once the Repugs took over, wasn't in a position to do anything about it. Not that this let's the Dums off the hook, since they passed the bills that Reagan and Bush wanted in the first place.

[Dinner]

The thing is voters have a memory that goes about 2-3 months back. If Joe 6-pack has a job when election time rolls around and if he picks up a paper where the reporter tells him everything is fine then Joe will think everything is fine.

The Dems need to stop whining about abstract and far away issues like Iraq (even if they are true) because they won't get any where with them. Instead show how Bush's policies have directly made life worse for the average man. Also don't just aim for the democratic base; expand it outward and get the Republican base and moderates pissed off with Bush as well. Show the Republican voters how Bush has created the largest increases in big government since Johnson & show how he's rolled back free trade and slapped tarrifs & subsidies on all sorts of things and flip flopped on issue after issue because he's a corrupt man that will do anything he's paid to do. The Repubs said they had Clinton because he flip flopped and because he took a poll before doing anything. Bush is doing that even more then Clinton did so maybe that will alienate some of Bush's base.

[DanS]

I don't think the corporate corruption dog will hunt. Bush could turn that around and play the "I was tough on the corruption that was endemic during my predecessor's time" bit.

Deficits are a big issue, but I don't think they'll be as big as the dems hope. The FY '03 deficit was $75 billion less than feared. The FY '04 deficit will be big, but probably not as big as feared a couple of months ago.

[chequita guevara]

The people who went bankrupt and lost their homes and were out of work for years at a time aren't likey to forget, Oerdin.

[DanS]

The thing is voters have a memory that goes about 2-3 months back. If Joe 6-pack has a job when election time rolls around and if he picks up a paper where the reporter tells him everything is fine then Joe will think everything is fine.

You need to trust the voters more.

and were out of work for years at a time

Do you like to mull over personal bad times? I sure don't.

[Ming]

No... they won't. But people who have since gotten jobs will know the economy is getting better, and is headed in the right direction

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The people who went bankrupt and lost their homes and were out of work for years at a time aren't likey to forget, Oerdin.

'

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but they make a small minority of voters.