Doing canvassing a while ago, I was struck again by how many people complain that the Democrats have no positive message, no ideas. This annoys me, because most of the things that actually
work about our government are Democratic ideas -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. -- and we need people in government who will keep those things from being destroyed by the hooligans currently in charge. And I know that apart from any list of specific things the Democrats might promise that they'll do once in power, they will put grown-up, competent, qualified people in charge, as they always have, and make government work again. That should be enough, I thought -- more than enough -- to win a sensible person's vote.
But then I thought of what seems to me to be a zippy one-line way of getting this across that cuts through the clutter. Here's my slogan, and my pitch, beyond the flip.
See if anyone finds it appealing. At the very least, I think it beats the heck out of "Together, we can do better." You might think of it as a one-line version of the positive message called for by
thereisnospoon, or the second part of a one-two punch, where the first part is negative (pointing out the failed conservative ideology of the Repubs as emphasized by
bmaples and Kos), and the second part is the positive Democratic message. Here goes.
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What will we get if we return Democrats to power?
Answer: Good government --
period.
No keeping track of all your phone calls.
No snooping through your emails.
No extremist ideologies.
No hectoring about our religious views.
No finger-wagging about how to lead your sex life.
No meddling in your most private decisions.
No politicizing of your medical decisions.
Just good government --
period.
We
will balance the federal budget -- as we have in the past.
We
will keep job growth strong -- as we have in the past.
We
will make FEMA work -- as we have in the past.
We
will use diplomacy together with our military to provide effective national defense and earn the respect of the world again -- as we have in the past.
The Democrats: Good government -- period.
(In the unlikely event that anyone wants a bumper sticker of this sort, I put the image onto CafePress, priced at cost.)