Yesterday, Tom DeLay repeated the charge that Democrats are criminalizing politics. But this time he added an adjective: "conservative."
Here's the quote:
"We are witnessing the criminalization of conservative politics."
He also extended his accusation to include the other scandals conservatives are currently caught up in.
Well, I don't write ad copy, but I got to thinking of what someone who does might create in response. I'm sure it needs work.
Possible Ad Copy:
(Revised per comments down the thread)
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Opens with DeLay quote and a picture of Tom DeLay:
"We are witnessing the criminalization of conservative politics." -Tom DeLay (quote should be translucent white on top of DeLay photo, then fade as moves to Voice-Over)
Voice-Over (while running a slideshow of conservative politicos involved in the scandals mentioned below):
Tom DeLay would have you believe that violating campaign finance law is "conservative politics."
He would have you believe that money laundering is "conservative politics."
He would even have you believe that insider trading is "conservative politics."
And that exposing covert operatives who track WMDs is "conservative politics."
Have the leaders of the Republican Party forgotten the difference between "criminalization" and Crime?
If political conservatives have committed these crimes, then we are not witnessing the criminalization of politics. We are witnessing the politicization of crime.
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Update: Additional Suggestions for the Closer (from thread below)
It's not because conservatives are criminals. It's because criminals are posing as conservatives.
No, we're just witnessing crime.
We are witnessing the criminalization of criminal politics.
We are witnessing criminals, disguised as politicians, abusing their positions of power.
After reading these suggestions in the context of the final paragraph, I personally like the "politicization of crime" best. It flows well. And serves as sort of a perfect inverse for DeLay's quote.