Meet the face of the 2010 Republican party. It still sports the likes of Karl Rove, Mitt Romney, etc., who are tactically and politically amoral.
But now it includes the louder voices of Michelle Bachman and Tom Coburn, along with the raving lunacy of Ken Buck, Christine O'Donnell, Tom Paladino, Joe Miller and Dan Maes.
As the Michael Dukakis character from the Saturday Night live debate skit said, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy."
So what do we do? Here's a list of suggestions. I don't do politics for a living (I almost did), but if I was all of you who do...
- We're losing because the right-wing is going to show up and the rest of us aren't. We always lose just in that way - that's because the right-wing is filled with sheeple and the rest of us like to think before we vote. All kidding aside, it's time to stop thinking and start voting. It's OK if you don't love your Democratic candidates - but they are all better than the Republicans. Think about the big picture and stop whining about your one issue (whatever that is). Now, talk to your friends and get them to do the same.
- Let's not coddle the crazy people. Nobody really wants to vote for crazy people (except other crazy people). The Tea Party wing of the GOP is filled with extremists, racists and loons. We should be in the public's face about that, so let's attack them instead. That will get moderates, Independents and progressives who are afraid (and this fear is legitimate as opposed to fake terrorism fear) that the fringe will get power.
- People might not like President Obama and our Democrats right now, but they hate the GOP more. I would put George W. Bush's picture on the face of every Democratic candidates' ad and remind everybody that it's all their fault. It's true - and the public already knows it.
- Introduce a tax bill in Congress that lets the Bush tax cuts expire on the wealthy but keeps them for everybody else. If it doesn't pass, remind everybody that the Democrats introduced it and the Republicans said, "no." If it does pass, remind everybody that the Democrats passed it. Now remind everybody that Republicans said "no" to everything else, whether it passed or not. Maybe they'll say "no" to power if they win it back in the election (we could only hope)!
- Nationalize these issues. I know the Democratic strategy usually is that all politics is local (and this is true), but nationalized elections can produce higher turnouts (this is also true). Use both tactics at once. That's how the GOP won in 1994.
There really isn't any good, intellectually honest reason why we cannot be at least competitive on parity this election. I hope it's not too late, and I have good reason to hope that. But it requires stronger tactics, a more aggressive strategy, and - I believe - a unified front. Then we stand a good chance to hold a large portion of our seats, and flip a few of theirs' as well.
Here's my slogan of the day: Crush the wave!