Win their hearts, win their minds.
A few entries back I talked about how the Democrats lost the election. Here are a few ideas they can consider to take back seats in the next Congress. Keep in mind that most of these are about going on the offensive and actually taking positions rather than pussy-footing around issues.
1) Suggest a balanced-budget amendment or put pressure on Republicans to balance the budget. This can be followed up by attempt to undermine the balanced budget. It helped them secure the presidency in 1992 (when they forced Bush Sr to accept a budget introducing new taxes) and could most likely help them again.
2) Increase media focus on the Libertarian and Constitution parties. These parties generally take from hard right-wingers (Constitution Party) and fiscal conservatives/Goldwater Republicans (Libertarian Party) This can be done by alluding to Bush's fight to decrease federal spending being mere lip service.
3) Harp on issues like pork-barrel spending, campaign-finance, etc, calling the Republicans constantly on instances where federal spending has gotten out of hand, especially in the military.
4) Do not rely on the objective of Iraq being "the next Vietnam". This has been overdone. Instead, Dems should focus on the increasing influence of North Korea on affairs in the Far East. Iraq is a lost cause. North Korea is the new chess match. Bush was actually far more knowledgable on this issue than Kerry was, which I thought was surprising. Korea would like nothing more than to have bilateral talks with the US, which is something Kerry was suggesting. Bush, however, was right in his position that bilateral talks will only serve to isolate China, South Korea, Japan, and other stakeholders. This issue is not one that can be resolved by US action. The US must ignore North Korea, not impose sanctions, and for all intensive purposes, leave them the hell alone. Same goes for South Korea, whose youth do not want our troops there. We are no longer acting as peacekeepers in the minds of the Koreans, we are policing and patrolling. The Democrats should urge for the US to pull out of a zone we are not wanted in and let Japan and South Korea work directly with China and North Korea.
5) Abortion. Continue to argue on this as it is still a 50/50 split and not likely to be someone's major decision in voting for President, but likely to be an issue when it comes to election other politicians.
Of these, I would have to say 1, 2, and 4 (in that order) are the most important to begin addressing or giving focus to immediately. Do this and you're sure to win back control of the House and Senate in two to four years.
1) Suggest a balanced-budget amendment or put pressure on Republicans to balance the budget. This can be followed up by attempt to undermine the balanced budget. It helped them secure the presidency in 1992 (when they forced Bush Sr to accept a budget introducing new taxes) and could most likely help them again.
2) Increase media focus on the Libertarian and Constitution parties. These parties generally take from hard right-wingers (Constitution Party) and fiscal conservatives/Goldwater Republicans (Libertarian Party) This can be done by alluding to Bush's fight to decrease federal spending being mere lip service.
3) Harp on issues like pork-barrel spending, campaign-finance, etc, calling the Republicans constantly on instances where federal spending has gotten out of hand, especially in the military.
4) Do not rely on the objective of Iraq being "the next Vietnam". This has been overdone. Instead, Dems should focus on the increasing influence of North Korea on affairs in the Far East. Iraq is a lost cause. North Korea is the new chess match. Bush was actually far more knowledgable on this issue than Kerry was, which I thought was surprising. Korea would like nothing more than to have bilateral talks with the US, which is something Kerry was suggesting. Bush, however, was right in his position that bilateral talks will only serve to isolate China, South Korea, Japan, and other stakeholders. This issue is not one that can be resolved by US action. The US must ignore North Korea, not impose sanctions, and for all intensive purposes, leave them the hell alone. Same goes for South Korea, whose youth do not want our troops there. We are no longer acting as peacekeepers in the minds of the Koreans, we are policing and patrolling. The Democrats should urge for the US to pull out of a zone we are not wanted in and let Japan and South Korea work directly with China and North Korea.
5) Abortion. Continue to argue on this as it is still a 50/50 split and not likely to be someone's major decision in voting for President, but likely to be an issue when it comes to election other politicians.
Of these, I would have to say 1, 2, and 4 (in that order) are the most important to begin addressing or giving focus to immediately. Do this and you're sure to win back control of the House and Senate in two to four years.