Okay, maybe I've got something here. Don't you just hate the way Republicans reduce everything to catch phrases and labels? Love 'em or hate 'em, they do have a big advantage: they're short, not always sweet, and a good one can speak volumes with all the things it implies and is associated with.
Democrats have been slow to respond to this, and it has cost them dearly. Republicans have become expert at splitting up the country and energizing the largest fragments; Democrats have pursued a counter strategy of trying to win by not pissing anyone off. Guess which strategy is working?
Okay, enough dallying. "Had Enough?" seems to be gathering momentum as a slogan for the Dems. Let's add another. Tired of hearing about "Cut and Run" Democrats? How about....wait for it.....
Head in the Sand Republicans!
It's a short phrase that everyone knows, and everyone
understands. It captures in a nutshell the whole Republican approach to the country's problems.
It puts them on the defensive.
Global warming? Corruption in Congress? Economic pain in the heartland? Gaps in Homeland Security? Presidential power grabs trashing the Constitution? The budget deficit? The war in Iraq? The Republican response is the same to all of these - they stick their heads in the sand and refuse to deal with the reality they've created.
And, the sand part of it just pounds that link tighter between the GOP and the sands of Iraq. The sands they have no plans to pull their heads out of for the next three years.
What's a Head in the Sand Republican? It's someone who can spend three years going in circles in Iraq and think they're turning corners. It's someone who can keep passing tax cuts for the wealthy and then wonder why there's no money for the troops or huricane relief. It's someone who can hear about atrocities by the U.S. over and over and think it's just a few bad apples. It's someone who can think the same people who got us into this mess and keep making it worse still have 6 months to turn things around. And so on.
Here's the deal people. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. Use the phrase in letters to the editor. Call into talk shows and use it. Everytime you hear "cut and run", fire back with "head in the sand". It works for almost every issue the GOP is dodging.
Heck - it's already starting to appear spontaneously. Check out this piece by Robert Kuttner in the Boston Globe 6-15-2005. That was a year ago, and it still works today. "Head in the Sand" is a battle cry just waiting to be put to use.
Watch the Sunday talk shows today and picture how just using Head in the Sand would change the dynamics. Everytime a pundit contrasts Democratic divisions with GOP unity, imagine if that was countered with "Sure they're united - they've all got their heads in the sand."
Let's do it. Recommend this diary, spread the word, and remember who we're dealing with here: Head in the Sand Republicans.
Hey, if the GOP in didn't get the message when all those rubber stamps were delivered to Congress, maybe bombarding them with these will get the message across. How cool is it when you can take a message that's already short, and reduce it to a visual symbol? Imagine the TV ads that could be done around this idea!
Hey - guerilla street theater opportunity here - anyone know where you can get a giant inflatable ostrich? It would look lovely parked just outside the White House fence - or a GOP campaign rally.
We'll know it's working when the talking heads start repeating heads in the sand, the right wing complains it's uncivil, it appears on bumper stickers, and Tom Tomorrow can put it on a t-shirt. Maybe Sparky knows some ostriches we can recruit......