The Republican Party, particularly the ultra-conservative section of it, controls all three branches of our government. It spends most of its time on emotional issues, hoping to embarrass Democrats and bring its base out come November. Issues that demand attention have been lost in the attack on gays, flag burners, and in a recent unnecessary vote involving the war in Iraq. In fact, they shot themselves in the foot during the battle over troop withdrawals, labeling the Democratic proposal a cut and run strategy. The following day, General Casey offered a similar plan. The president and legislative spokesmen have tried to make an orange look like an apple, but no one's buying. The two proposals are the same.

The Democrats in the Legislature should be making proposals of their own and doing whatever it takes to publicize them. If their proposals are enacted into law, so much the better, but if they are shot down, at least they died trying. Harping on the Republicans' waste of time is only half the battle. Painting this Congress as being wasteful of opportunity is easily accomplished, but the Democrats need to make it clear that they are doing something positive themselves, and then keep doing so. It may be fun watching the civil war inside the Republican Party, but the Democrats need proposals and solutions to such problems as health care, the national debt, immigration, social security, and the environment, in order to be effective. There are no shortages of available ideas, and there are plenty of groups willing to promote them. Those sources of strength need to be tapped.

The Republican economic policy, beginning with Ronald Reagan and continuing through the two more recent administrations, has been to cut income and max out our credit card. This should scare the daylights out of fiscal conservatives—there should still be plenty of them in the GOP. These are the people who believe in paying their own bills, and think government should do the same. They are convinced that government is wasteful, and the pork their party is now responsible for proves them right. There is no way that government itself can be trimmed enough to pay the bills run up by the last three Republican administrations, but every legislative add-on to spending bills can be cut. Good publicity awaits those who capitalize on it. Witness John McCain.

I have no doubt that the next election cycle will feature mostly negative ads, since they seem to work, but contrasting negative behaviors with positive efforts would make the picture a lot clearer. No one gets elected to the Senate without a good grasp of public relations, and there was never a better time to put that knowledge to use. It's hard to paint yourself as a problem solver if you haven't proposed any solutions. It's time to stop playing defense, and start pressing the attack. Remember, quarterbacks are paid a lot better than linebackers.

Posted by Wes Randolph   |   Tuesday, June 27, 2006