Liberty's Blog

Some Tips for Democrats

The Democrats lost bigtime, and as I've posted earlier, they are in danger of being irrelevent on a national level. They need to reassess how they choose their candidates,and run their campains.

The Democrats need to tone down the emotional rhetoric. Early in the campain attacks on Bush were to prove self defeating. Calling Bush Monkey Man and the snears made because he is from Texas, made the Democrats petty and biggoted. Most Americans can identify with George Bush and his personality. He is one of us, poking fun at his flaws was poking fun at the rest of us. George potrayed an image of the Averege Joe, Kerry an image of blueblood elite. We all know that Bush has lived the life every bit al elite as Kerry, but Mid-America likes his Joe Shmoe image. We identify. The Democrats earlier jabs at Bush caused voter apathy towards the Democrats, by the time real issues were to be addressed.

Don't Nominate New England Senators. The last Senator to be elected was John Kennedy. The list of failed Senators since then is long. Mondale, Dole, McGovern, and now Kerry. Massachusetts polititions, have a bad negative connotation, and Kerry fit the stereotype quite well. Perhaps one can get away with selecting a senator, if the Senator has a record of moderation and accomplishment. Kerry barely even showed up for senatrial votes, and didn't have much of a record to run on despite 20 years in the Senate. Even though Gephart is a senator he at least had a record and might been electable.

Choose your issues carefully. Kerry homed in on the Iraqi war. There is some validity in his critisism, but he offered no solutions, other than his seeking help from other nations. This seemed unreasonable, The French and Germans responded with not only "No" but "HELL NO". Kerry could have offered some positive input, Such as supplying the troops with the equipment they need. Improvements for security for the troops that are needed. Or a public definition "Code of Conduct" describing in more detail how any POW's are to be treated. Kerry's plan for nationalized heath care was poorly described and not well thought out. The next Democratic nomminee might be better advised to have a plan to lower Medical Costs. the Plan could be wide encompassing. Lowering the costs of Pharmacuticals to what the Canadians and Mexicans have to pay. limmiting liability, and encouraging medical lab competition. These are issues that the Republicans haven't addressed well, and middle America will be willing to buy into. One of the problems Kerry ran into is that he was so inactive as a senator he never actively supported them in the past, even if though one can presume he had the opportunity.


Don't eat your young. The Democrats were savage in their attacks on each other in the primarys and showed little support for their moderates. Great spokesman for their party like Lieberman and Gebhart could have been an asset to the Kerry Campain, but they were left out. The Democrats need the support of their Democratic moderates if they are going to ever elect a President again. Think about the Democrats that have been elected since Harry Truman. They were all concidered moderates while they were running.

The Democrat candidate should be himself. Herry fell into the Dukakis trap and tried to be at home in uncomfortable situations. The photo Ops of Kerry at his duck hunting forrays, made him look like a phoney, because at the time he was a phoney. Bill Clinton could pose as Joe sixpack because its more natural for him. If your not Clinton or Bush don't pretend to be them

posted by Liberty @ 8:35 AM