There are several ways to campaign.
One is to let voters know who caused the problems they are complaining about. A second way is letting voters know how you plan to resolve those problems.
(The trick here is coming up with solutions that at least sound rational. After all, "We can save Social Security by privatizing it like a murderous South American dictator did" may not appeal to all voters.)
And then there's letting voters know what your opponents will do. And here, Republicans, salivating rashly at visions of returning to power one-day, have inexplicably handed Democrats on-the-record opportunities.
Before the 2006 off-year elections, Democratic leaders fell over themselves calming voters (rightly or wrongly) that impeachment proceedings against President Bush was not on the table should the party take Congressional control, nor that they would use subpoena power to spend every day investigating crimes, even though so many Republicans had already gone to prison. Democrats swept back into power. And two years later won the White House.
Contrast that with the present, when Republicans are doing everything they can to bring out the crazy.
Not every Republican has proposed the same things, but if we've learned anything from recent history, it's unanimity of Republican thought. There is a recurring theme across the board from GOP leaders like Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, Lindsey Graham and others; from Republican mouthpieces who attach to the nearest camera like Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and the half-term former governor Sarah Palin; from the "new generation" of Republican/Tea Party candidates Sharron Angle, Rand Paul and more, all of whom are trying their best to set the table about what a Republican-controlled Congress would be like. Without prompting from anyone, almost begging for microphones to explain their agenda.
For starters, Republicans have been upfront that they hate and want to repeal the health care reforms. So, all those new protections that American citizens have already taken into their lives -- like adding one's adult children onto a parent's policy when that child would otherwise lose their coverage -- to all those protections to come that won't become active until 2014 (thanks to Republican insistence on delay) -- including not being refused coverage for pre-existing conditions -- Republicans want to get rid of that.
Republicans also have stated that they want to repeal the new banking reform laws against Wall Street. So, in the midst of America's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a recession brought on by Wall Street abuse, Republicans think it's a really wonderful idea to get rid of all the new national protections that Congress enacted.
Amazingly, Republicans have also gotten so giddy on the fumes of hoped-for power that many are increasingly bringing up the eternal GOP bugaboo, Social Security. When you hear the words, "privatize," just know it's code for the 75-year Republican dream to actually dismantle the protection supported by 88% of Americans.
Republicans in growing numbers have begun talking about repealing the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, the core right that any person born in the United States is an American citizen. You know, that whole "Give me your tired, your poor" thing.
There even have been Republicans sending up "trial balloons" about actually repealing the 17th Amendment -- your right to directly elect their senator by popular vote, rather than have members appointed by state legislatures.
And remarkable, too, is the anxious desire of Republicans to stop government in its tracks, phrased most emphatically by Ms. Bachmann (R-MN) "I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas," she told a GOP Youth Convention. Never mind the economy, unemployment and wars. "I think that's all we should do."
That's what America has in store if the Republican Party regains control in Congress, and not just in the coming election. Repealing healthcare. Repealing Wall Street banking reform. Repealing Social Security. Repealing unemployment insurance for those slackers who dared get fired during a recession. Repealing the 14th Amendment. Repealing the 17th Amendment. And issuing subpoena after subpoena, because "that's all we should do."
Forget what problems from the past the Republican Party created -- and that's a lot to forget: the economic crash, unemployment, doubling the national debt, the Iraq War, the Afghan War and more. Forget, too, that they want you to let them fix the mess they created. Forget even whether you think the Democratic Party can build strong enough solutions.
Just know that this is what will face America if a Republican Party is back in control. Repeal and subpoena. It's not opinion or guess: Republicans have themselves been excitedly telling you it's what they want. On the record. Imagine what they're saying out of the reach of microphones.
This isn't just the Party of No. This is the Party of Nowhere. No Way. No How.
America doesn't go backwards. America is a nation that has always gone forward. But the Republican Party is telling you it wants to drag the country in reverse. Into the past. Repeal! "I want my country back," they cry. When blacks knew their place. The poor and elderly were on their own. Women couldn't vote. Only Europeans immigrated. And the rich didn't have to worry about anybody getting in their way.
A "happier" time.
"In Bob Dole's acceptance speech, Dole stated "Let me be the bridge to an America that only the unknowing call myth. Let me be the bridge to a time of tranquillity, faith, and confidence in action",[8] to which incumbent president and Democratic nominee Bill Clinton responded, "We do not need to build a bridge to the past, we need to build a bridge to the future.".[9]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole#1996_presidential_campaign
And we all know how successful that was.
That is, can a nation with a two-party system still be considered a democracy if one of those political parties HATES the role of government? It doesn't make sense that if you hate government, that you're going to be very good at running it.
The assumption is that an individual will take the steps necessary to be self-sufficient by working in an occupation that they can contribute and be compensated to pay their own way.
In the past, the American culture prized personal responsibility and looked down on the willingness and desire to take without producing more than they consumed.
When the Tea Party talks about "taking our country back," that is what they mean.
Sounds awesome! Let's go back to *that*!!
They liked the 8 years they had in power with nothing but failed policies the problem is nobody else did so the majority of Americans voted against those GOP failures and Americans elected Obama.
In spite of the fact the majority did the right thing under the circumstances the GOP is angry about the election and have proven to be very sore losers.
When Dems gave up the fight and Gore conceded they soldiered on through the 8 year Bush administration trying in vain to change things from heading in the wrong direction but the GOP had a strangle hold on America.
The GOP drove the economy off the cliff.
But even now with less than a full 2 years the GOP has done nothing since the election but complain and blame, voting no on everything that might move us forward while blaming Dems for the problems they left behind.
They never accepted responsibility for the mess the made or the crashed economy they left behind.
Then they never even made much of an attempt to change their policies and ideas or work in good faith to fix those problems.
They took a taxpayer salary to do nothing but vote no.
The GOP attitude is "I broke it and only I can fix it".
They won't lift a finger or vote yes even once. They have behaved like spiteful children at the taxpayer
Fanned and faved
Shoot, I suggest if they'd been given their way at the very beginning of this grand experiment of U.S., we wouldn't BE here today.
I call them absolutely Whiggy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JDNTS2wHHo&feature=search
Now, the white middle class haas caught up to what the non-existent black middle class has already been through. Our parents used to preach education to us as our only saving mechanism to possibly get out of poverty. Now, that is not a safe haven. Most of us get out of college with more debt than the low-paying jobs can help us repay.
Bill Maher asked the question on his show that he could not understand why a poor, working class, or even middle class person would vote for a Republican. The reply was "they trick them into it". He is right. They distract people with issues that don't really matter (homophobia, racism, religious discrimination, etc...), but issues that they know can get "a rise" out of certain people because of their own personal prejudices; they create fear and BAM!!!! they get their votes.
But is this behavior simple human nature or learned bahavior as part of the "American Experience?"