In every campaign since I can remember, Democrats have impressed me with one political tactic: they understood their talking points and never missed an opportunity to espouse them – usually as a preface to EVERY answer - no matter what the question.
With the exception of Ronald Reagan’s campaigns, what has been an enormous disappointment to me about Republicans during campaigns is that they have a hard time espousing any consistent talking points – at any time – regardless of the opportunity.
If history repeats itself from now until November 2nd, we’ll see Democrats stay on message and Republicans floundering to find one.
Using what I call a “silver platter” of campaign talking points handed to them by the Obama administration and Democrat leadership; Republicans should trounce the opposition in debate after debate all the way to a landslide victory on November 2nd.
But having said that, I’m beginning to get a little - no - a lot worried at what I am seeing after watching Republicans these past several months.
You’d think Republicans might at least try sampling a political entree or two from the silver platter President Obama and the Democrats have given them, but to my dismay, I’ve yet to see it.
And it can’t be from a lack of campaign silver platter choices.
Tasty silver platter entrees
Let’s review some tasty silver platter entrees:
- Over $800 billion in stimulus spending that hasn’t worked,
- Using TARP funds to cherry-pick which banks survive,
- 9.7% unemployment when Obama promised it wouldn’t go above 8%,
- Bypassing federal bankruptcy laws and regulations to take over GM and Chrysler – using taxpayer money,
- A “pay czar” deciding how much corporate executives can earn,
- Almost three million jobs lost since Obama took office - when he promised to add four million by the end of 2010,
- Passage of a health care bill against the majority will of the American people - many states challenging the bill as unconstitutional,
- A slow and incompetent response to the Gulf oil spill – still leaking thousands of gallons a day over 70 days later,
- Obama’s deep water oil drilling ban will cost thousands of American jobs,
- Failure to secure our Southern borders while suing Arizona for trying to protect its citizens,
- A national debt increase of almost $3 trillion since Obama took office,
- A federal debt that will represent 62% of the nation’s economy by 2011 – with estimates of 100% in ten to fifteen years,
- Pending cap and trade legislation laced with energy cost and job loss issues,
- Democrats pushing a financial regulation reform bill that protects financial firms and ultimately hurts consumers – also being challenged as unconstitutional,
- Democrats became the first House majority that failed to pass an annual budget resolution since the Congressional Budget Act was adopted in 1974,
Democrat tax increases slated for 2011 that will further harm taxpayers and the economy,
numerous pay-to-play political scandals,
- Obama’s promise not to raise taxes on those making less than $250 thousand – already broken,
- A weak and dangerous foreign and domestic terrorism policy.
There’s a lot more entrees, but they won’t all fit on just one silver platter. Obama and the Democrats have been very generous to Republicans these past eighteen months.
It will be interesting to see if Republicans take a page out of the Democrat political playbook, finally muster some Reagan leadership and courage, and take full advantage of all the silver platter gifts they’ve been handed by President Obama and the Democrats.
Or will I, and all conservative Republicans, once again be disappointed as we watch Republican candidates snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by squandering one of the biggest campaign silver platter opportunities to come along since the Carter administration?
