Years ago, Albert Einstein gave a smart alecky yet dead on definition of insanity...
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
I think that should be a theme of Barack's campaign going forward because if people are going to vote for McCain/Palin, just like they voted for Bush, hoping somehow the results will be different, they're insane.
One of my pet peaves, actually it drives me completely off the wall, is when I hear Republicans running on economic issues. McCain is running ads about Barack's job killing platform and in stump speeches he talks about his plans to "get the economy going again". This is offensive on a very basic level- The Republican's Have a Terrible Track Record on the Economy!
I'm no Bonddad and I know he has posted about this subject, but I want to show a couple of lists that are relevant. Number one, here is a list from bests to worst of Job Growth of Presidents from Ike to Bush II:
- LBJ
- Carter
- Kennedy/Johnson
- Clinton
- Nixon
- Reagan
- Nixon/Ford
- Ike
- Bush 1
- Bush 2
Notice something? Every Democratic President beats every Republican President over the last 50+ years.
Here is a list from best to worst of Real GDP growth less Increase in Debt per capita....
- Clinton
- JFK/Johnson
- Carter
- Reagan
- Nixon/Ford
- Ike
- Bush 2
- Bush 1
Notice anything? Again every Democratic President beats every Republican President
Along with those lists there is also an interesting tidbit...every Democratic President left smaller debt behind than inherited while every Republican President since Reagan has left more debt behind than inherited.
Along with that, there is this from a Forbes article in 2004 entitled "President's and the Stock Market"....
We found that the S&P 500 has averaged a total return of 14.1% per year under Democratic Presidents since 1945 and 11.8% under Republicans
The natural question is, How on earth can Republican's dare to run on the economy?
The answer I feel is that Democrats are failures at selling themselves. Too often we appear as if we just assume people get it. This must stop.
We must assume that people DON'T get it!
We must spell it out for them. In detail. In a form they can understand. Don't assume that because the economy is bad the public is going to connect it to Republicans. They might not. In fact, in my experience, THEY DON'T. Most people I come in contact with feel Republicans are stronger on the economy. They are usually shocked when I tell them about the the job growth- GDP- stock market reality. Barack can not let that continue. His ads have been good but they're not enough. He's got to spell it out in unmistakeable detail, like the lists above, how much better Dems are for the economy. I think an ad starting with Einstein's definition of insanity, followed by those lists, followed by the conclusion that Republicans must think we're insane if they expect us to vote them in with the expectation of different results. Barack has to connect Republican Presidents to their putrid economic results. If McCain has he nerve to bring up jobs or growth in the debates, Barack must ask him to explain why we should expect McCain to do something that no other Republican President has done in decades... outperform a Democratic President economically
This has to be a constant drumbeat. Leave nothing on the table. Start now, and don't stop. Please Barack, do not leave this to chance. The Democratic brand should be a positive and often times it's not. That is our fault. No more can Republican's be allowed to advertise a worn out, broken down agenda and get away with it. If Republican's are able to bluff their way through this again, my head is going to explode. Don't dare assume that these points are already understood. Assume they're not.
Now go kick some ass!
Rant finished.