You wanna know how you do it? Here's how:
They pull a knife, you pull a gun.
He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.
That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone!
Now - do you want to do that?
Are you ready to do that?
Are Democrats ready to do that? Have Democrats "had enough" cowering, groveling, simpering, appeasing, pussyfooting, equivocating and generally eating the crap of Republican abuse for the past six years to finally do what needs to be done to change things?
What are you prepared to do about it?
(Also posted at My Left Wing)
A couple of diaries over the past few days are showing us the way. As Devilstower so brilliantly pointed out, we can either cry about how the Republicans don't fight fair, or we can destroy them at their own game.
Like British soldiers astounded that those rag tag American rebels would not line up and put on colorful uniforms, we're appalled at the Republicans' willingness to abandon the language of the past. We wave our hands over the deception embedded into their choice of words and sputter over their ability to throw a blanket of fine terms over muddy policies. We're offended by their overthrow of fine old words, and while we're busy being mad, they bloody our nose again.
The Republicans have been skirmishing Democrats for several years, nipping at our flanks, picking off supporters and candidates one by one with their "unfair" tactics, and then refusing to engage us in a battle over the substance of the issues, the way it's "supposed" to be done.
"Unfair! Unfair! Unfair!"
Shaddaaap. Get a grip. Get a spine. Start standing up for yourself. No, forget that - forget "standing up for yourself" - that's playing defense. We need to play offense. We need to turn every attack back on them. So - when you get attacked with a knife, pull out a freakin' Abrams tank and blow them away.
We have got so much more ammunition than Republicans have that it won't even be a fair fight - it'll be a massacre. All we have to do is pick up the right weapons, and keep blasting away. All we have to do is load our weapons with Examples Of Awful Governance, and we'll never run out of ammo.
From Zaphod Beeblebrox's stellar diary:
We should be attacking these bastards, and hard. Not necessarily from the far left, mind you, but we should definitely be attacking. Of course, while it is a bad idea to go instinctively to the left, it is counterproductive to always try and stake out a compromise position in the middle. It looks like (and is) pandering. It makes Democrats look disingenuous and weak. Nothing turns people off more than a coward, and with people like Hillary, Biden and Kerry you can smell the fear a mile away.
We don't even need to attack from the left, or the middle - or anywhere on the Political Spectrum. We just need to attack from Reality. Hell, there's ammunition lying on the ground, everywhere you look. And that ammunition is -
The Truth.
If there's one thing the Republicans and their enablers are afraid of, it's The Truth. If there's one issue the Republicans don't want to have to run on, it's The Truth. "Demonizing" Republicans isn't even necessary - all we have to do is TELL THE TRUTH - the truth will show them for the demons they are. Tell the Truth - Republicans can't stand that. They will run from it like vampires from sunshine. As Zaphod said,
The elections in November represent an historic opportunity. With control of both houses of Congress, we can take those Article II arguments that Cheney likes to throw around and smack his bitch ass upside the head with a righteous Article I retort. In order to do that we need to be aggressive. I don't know of any time in American history where a political party was as open to attack as the modern GOP is now. But here we are, not attacking (at least, not near enough).
And here is Zaphod with the essential message, the most important thing we need to "get":
Attack their perceived strength. Don't even worry if it makes any sense, just attack like mad dogs. If that tactic succeeded in making George W. Bush look like a tough guy and John F. Kerry look like a dishonorable coward, it can definitely be effective in undermining the GOP on security. Forget all the concerns about whether or not there is evidence of wrongdoing here, just say that there is, and say it loud.
In politics, you're guilty until proven innocent. If we say, for instance - in a unified, uniform, unblinking way - that the Bush administration has been spying on political enemies, the Republicans have no good responses. Never mind that they will say, "Well, we don't do that." And we'll say, "Why are you spying on political enemies?" And they'll say, "We don't spy on political enemies." And we'll say, "We know you're spying on political enemies - just like Nixon," and they'll have nowhere to go. And so we repeat that meme, louder and more often: JUST LIKE NIXON. And again, they'll have nowhere to go with that - there's no good response that won't raise more questions and add more validity to the charge. There is no way they can defend against a relentless onslaught of that, unless they're willing to open up the NSA program (and every freaking other illegal COINTELPRO program that they're running) to scrutiny. Which they're not.
And why aren't they? Simple: Because Republicans cannot withstand revelation of The Truth. This administration has buried, hidden, run from, destroyed and otherwise tried to deny The Truth since before it took office, and for good reason: When The Truth gets out about Republicans, They. Lose.
We need to make statements of fact that, in order to refute, would require the Bush administration and the Republicans to reveal The Truth. It's not our job to fact-check them - hell, the President doesn't have to - just to pound them into the consciousness of the American voting public. How do we do that? By acting as if they are true, and demanding that Republicans answer for them.
It's basically us saying - over and over again, about every single issue the Republicans are vulnerable on - "Have you stopped beating your wife? Have you stopped beating your wife? Have you stopped beating your wife?"
HEY, REPUBLICANS - HAVE YOU STOPPED BREAKING THE LAW?
HEY, REPUBLICANS - HAVE YOU STOPPED ROBBING THE U.S. TAXPAYER?
HEY, REPUBLICANS - HAVE YOU STOPPED SUPPORTING AN ILLEGAL, IDIOTIC WAR?
And don't ask these as rhetorical questions - DEMAND an answer. Why? Because there is no good answer, and to see Republicans impaled on these questions, trying to squirm free, can only help show them for the criminals, thieves and murderers that they are.
One of the recurring criticisms of John Kerry during the 2004 campaign was that he never met a polysyllabic word he didn't like. Too often, Democrats want to explain, when what we need to do is to sell. We don't need to launch into a full explanation about the charges we're making against Republicans - we just need to keep hammering on that nail until it's pounded home. The facts will bear us out. If we're challenged, we just keep repeating the charge, in a way that sticks - and I don't mean "sticks" like you make a case "stick" with a jury - because WE'RE NOT IN COURT HERE.
WE'RE NOT HAVING A DEBATE HERE.
WE'RE NOT DISCUSSING THE MERITS HERE.
ALL WE'RE DOING HERE IS -
SELLING OUR PRODUCT.
And that product is - say it with me -
Republicans can't be trusted to do ANYTHING right.
We need simple, direct, messages, repeated over and over and over and over and over again by Democrats - all Democrats. The messages don't even have to fully explain the situation - we can sort the nuance out later; we don't want to get bogged down in long-winded explanations (John Kerry - remember?). Our purpose is simply to INTERRUPT the existing political "conversation." We need to put Republicans on the defensive. It's simple - when Republicans have to defend the indefensible, they lose.
All we have to do is tell the Truth. But we have to tell it in three words, maybe four. If it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker, it's too long.
I'm not an advertising guy, but I know there are plenty of good ones out there. I came up with some thoughts on questions / talking points / bumper stickers / sound bites / slogans / commercials that I think reflect the kind of punchy, take-no-prisoners approach attitude we need to adopt, like, yesterday:
On Terror:
As the Preznit so righteously affirmed yesterday, Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11. The Republicans have not done ANYTHING to get the people responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11 five years ago. From the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor until they signed surrender papers on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor, less than four years elapsed. During that time, working with our allies, we crushed the murderous warmaking machines of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan. Oh - and that was under a Democratic President and Congress. Within five years after the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, under a Democratic President, ten of the plotters were serving jail time. Five years after 9/11, Republicans are scared to death that the American people are going to want an answer to this question:
Where's Osama?
Regarding the drumbeat to war, trumpeting Iran as a nuclear threat:
You said the same thing about Iraq.
The tactic that Democrats must unfailingly deploy whenever anyone ever tries to bring up a Republican talking point is derision and dismissal. The Republicans have strained Americans' credulity to the breaking point, and Democrats do not owe the courtesy of respect for Republicans' bullshit. Treat it appropriately: mock, deride, dismiss. Do NOT engage.
As for the war in Iraq that our President now admits he lied about getting us into, here are a few good, juicy ones:
Why did you lie about the reasons for the war?
or,
Terrorists Love the war in Iraq
or, just ask this simple question, and wait for an answer:
How many Americans must die before we leave?
There's no need to discuss the connection between Iraq and the War on Terror, there's no need to discuss the cost of the war in lives or dollars, or the lies that were made to get us into the war - it's a very simple question that no one wants to answer. It shifts the frame away from any rationale for being there. The Republicans have tried to get us to believe that there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq. That has proven to be demonstrably false; even the President himself has admitted it. Now that the same number of Americans have died in Iraq as were killed on 9/11, we need to get out.
The object here is not to engage in debate or prove points or win arguments - the object is to get Democrats elected. Let me repeat that:
THE OBJECT IS TO GET DEMOCRATS ELECTED.
What that is going to take is to plant doubt in the minds of the electorate about the capability of the Republicans to address the most important issues facing the country. That has to be done in a simple, simplistic way - the nuance can be handled later.
An easy-to-understand slogan regarding illegal NSA spying:
Just Get a Warrant. (Hat tip to Loquatrix, from her comment in Saturday's diary.)
On the state of healthcare in this country: Congresscritters have a pretty freakin' excellent healthcare package, of a quality that very, very few Americans could even dream of enjoying. Why? Make them explain:
If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for you.
A commercial, on the issue of the national debt:
[An adorable little baby, just born, is shown in swaddling clothes, and after a moment, this question comes on the screen, superimposed on the baby:]
How much does this baby owe the Republican government?
[And then the amount:]
$28,419.32
Another commercial on the national debt:
[Show a couple of teenagers bouncing from store to store in the mall, spending like crazy, buying shoes, clothes, etc. Voiceover:] You won't let your kids misuse your credit line. [Show a group of Republican congressmen and Bush. Voiceover:] Why would you let them?
How about this for a commercial on tax cuts for the rich:
[Announcer]: When you get money from someone, you have to pay taxes on it. [Show guy winning $1,000 on Let's Make a Deal; IRS guy swoops in and makes the guy fill out a form declaring his winnings] Why shouldn't he? [Show shot of elegantly dressed fop in a huge library in a huge mansion, opening an envelope and reading it aloud] "Oh, my - a check from dear Uncle Horatio for $200 million!! - " [same IRS guy comes to the front door; the butler slams it in his face] " - from his will . . . " [long-faced IRS guy slinks off, dejected]. [Announcer] Republicans don't think he should.
This isn't rocket science; it's the exact opposite. It's caveman logic. Don't get involved in trench warfare. We need quick, pointed strikes that speak to the visceral needs of every American. Forget nuance - go for the jugular; we can sort out the nuance later. Nuance is for pantywaists.
The reason the Republicans attack, attack, attack is that they know better than anybody that they've got nothing behind them - they are so far removed from their lines of support that they cannot afford to let their enemies encircle them. It won't take much to blow their message out of the water - but it will take doing it. This is no time for deliberation and careful triangulation. Triangulation is what loses elections.
So - to all you Democratic office holders, candidates and staffers:
The Republican campaign to hold the House and Senate in November is underway. Much is at stake.
What are you prepared to do about it?
UPDATE: If you haven't already, get thee over to thereisnospoon's diary on framing the NSA warrantless wiretapping issue, and dday's diary on Paul Hackett's and Chris Matthews's tag-team takedown of a Republican candidate on Hardball. Good stuff - exactly what we're talking about here.
(Hat tip to tiggers thotful spot, whose comment on Zaphod Beeblebrox's diary provided the quote from The Untouchables.)