August is possibly the best time to roll out our message to the voters. In 2004, August was the turning point that helped Bush (the SBVT ads hurt Kerry's image in a way that he never recovered, even with the debates.) Bush was on the offensive for most of the remainder of the campaign as a result.
We can make August into our turning point in a way that hurts the Republicans, but we need to hit with lighting-fast punches, and we need to hit them where it hurts.
We MUST hit the GOP on privatizing Social Security (do you know where your Representative and Senators stand?) We must hit them on Katrina and how hit relates to cronyism (Brownie) and Norquist-style governance (cuts for levees and willingness to spend money on Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere over Katrina funding.)
We need to hit them on Abramoff and Cunningham and DeLay and Libby.
We need to hit them on the Minimum Wage
We need to support a timetable, and when they respond that we're "cutting and running," respond "voters, are you satistifed with the current direction in Iraq? If you vote GOP, you will get more of the same."
National Security: Talk about the Dubai Ports Deal, the closure of the CIA Bin Laden Unit, and Tora Bora and the NYC DHS cuts (use the birdges and tunnels plot and the Mumbai bombings to point out the need to giving more funding for city subways in large cities. Talk of funding chemical and nuclear plants as well.) And around the 5th Anniversary of 9/11 (you know the GOP will try something with that) run ads describing BUsh's pre-9/11 counter-terrorism cuts in order to fund missile defense. Talk about how the first counter-terrorism meeting wasn't until right before 9/11. Talk about how they diverted money from Afghanistan to Iraq!
Also, do not be afraid to talk about immigration. Talk about NAFTA and how free-trade causes it, and talk about cheap-labor conservatives and promise to go after corporations that help illegals find work. Don't be afraid to be against blanket deportation (it's unrealistic) but don't support blanket amnesty.
August is the month where we can start to define them, before they define us. Rove's in trouble again which will hamper him. Bush's bounce is done, so the good news of June will give way to hell in July & August. Pelosi and Emmanuel have their best chance of taking the House back since 1994. THEY MUST SUCCEED OVERWHELMINGLY!
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Pelosi calls on Democrats to 'own' August message
By Josephine Hearn
For the second time in two days, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has encouraged her colleagues to do more to help win the House in November, this time asking them to hold events over the August recess to trumpet their "New Direction for America" platform.
"Democrats have a strong and unified national message. As part of our national strategy, Democrats must own the message during August," she wrote Wednesday to all House Democrats.
The six-pronged "New Direction" agenda proposes providing affordable healthcare, lowering gas prices, raising the minimum wage, lowering the cost of college, preventing Social Security privatization and restoring fiscal responsibility.
http://www.hillnews.com/...