Karl Rove's talking points were much in evidence today. "Finger pointing" was used over and over by Rs: "Now is not the time for finger pointing". "Do you want to point fingers or to help people."
Good call, Karl. "Finger pointing" is inherently petty, partisan and unproductive. Dems must be the ones doing all this finger pointing. The Rs just want to get down to business and fix things.
Our talking points should be....
1. Replace "finger pointing" with "demanding accountability" at every opportunity.
TALKING HEAD ONE: Now is not the time for finger pointing, Tim.
TALKING HEAD TWO: We must demand accountablility.
"Demanding accountibility" is not petty; it is reasonable, prudent and always appropriate. It does not jibe with "partisan".
Can you imagine someone complaining about partisans "demanding accountability"? No, partisons point fingers. Responsible people of all stripes demand accountability.
Can you imagine them trying to say: "Now is not the time to demand accountability"? No. It's ALWAYS time to demand accountability.
When you hand out the job of head of FEMA as a plum to a political crony with no qualifications, you must be accountable for his results.
When you divert the contry's money, troops, national guard and attention to an OPTIONAL war abroad, you should be accountable for the results.
When you completely fuck up and allow thousands to die, you should be held accountable for your actions.
When you run on your promise to keep the nation secure then screw up the only real test of your ability to respond to a crisis, resulting in people drowning in their own attics a week after the hurricane, you should be held accountable.
I hope the dems and local officials interviewed will start using these words. We are not pointing fingers. We are holding people accountable.
2. The same way they use "finger pointing", we should use "PR" (I'd like to be able to use Cover your ass, but I think it's too coarse for the purpose.)
HOST: [Any question talking about the difficulty of the rescue efforts, admin officials visits, press conferences, or regurgitating spin of any sort.]
TALKING HEAD: Now is not the time for PR. We need to demand accountability.
Guess which finger I'm pointing at you, Karl.