I have learned a number of lessons from the GOP that are very effective political tools. Ideas like "always shoot the messanger", "blame everyone else for your own mistakes", "attack their strengths and let their weaknesses drag them down", and I could go on and on with the things they have done that have been effective to hurt Democrats. They have been very effective at defining issues on their terms and crippling the left. I look at all of this trash and I think to myself, how is it possible to roll this all into a single bundle, and turn it back on them. I began to think, what do virtually all Republicans have in common that is open to attack? What epitomizes the entire Republican party at a core level. The key narrative to the Republican Party, the touchstone that unites them is Reaganism. They all invoke Reagan.
Reaganism embodies a larger than life narrative. It raises up their ideals and conservative theories to the level of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other great American leaders. It posits an idea of an aggressive, striving America that shuns "weakness" and rewards a strong singular vision of America. Reagan the leader, Reagan the man of faith (event hough he didn't go to church), Reagan the Great Communicator, Reagan the Economist, Reagan the diplomat, Reagan the Military leader, Reagan the giant among men. They all serve as a touchstone for the Conservative Movement. They are all Reagan all the time.
There is a simple way to defeat them now and that is to measure them by their own standard.
The narrative we can put forward is that the world vision that Reagan envisioned has largely come to pass. They have succeeded in forcing our country to fit their conservative social theories. They have succeeded economically, they have succeeded socially, and they have succeeded culturally. They have made Reaganism the core of our government. Reaganism is the world we see today.
Reaganism is manifest in our society in the following ways.
- Reaganism leads to deficits.
- Reaganism leads to stagnant wages.
- Reaganism leads to political corruption.
- Reaganism leads to a decline in the middle class
- Reagan conservatives are only interested in practicing right wing social theory.
- Iraq is Reaganism.
- Tom Delay is Reaganism. Bush is Reaganism.
- A national security state is Reaganism.
- Corruption and malaise are Reaganism.
- Shipping jobs overseas are Reaganism.
- Most all of the problems we see today, economic, political and military can be traced to Reaganism.
- Reaganism belongs on the scrap heap of history next to Communism.
It is impossible for them to defend Reagan. Every single Republican claims to be following the path of Reagan and they are all royal screw ups. By claiming that the real cause of the screw up is a failed ideology, "Reaganism", you can can tar every single Republican with the same brush at the same time. Invoke Reagan and you can easily and quickly create a simple, easy to understand, sound bite sized, effective, attack message that touches every Republican. You can force them to defend the indefensible and place them in an impossible situation.