The Fight for 2006 Begins Today. Here's How.
Two large factors led to our loss. One, the youth vote did not
turn out. Two, the election was not about Bush v. Kerry. It was
about ideology, Republican v. Democrat. History shows there is
nothing we can do about the former. But there is a hell of alot
we can do about the latter, starting today.
Republicans have dominated the vocabulary of the last decade
by defining the terms of almost every debate. It is time that
the left stand up for itself and proudly show our colors. It
begins with reminding America about all the good things that
liberals have brought this country, and reminding them that
the Republicans fought against every single one.
The 527s need to begin airing issue ads immediately. These
ads need to be informative ads on issues that appeal to our
strength. Issues such as the environment, minimum wage,
civil rights, deficit reduction/responsible fiscal management,
assault weapons ban, etc.
These ads should be slowly run in rotation with the goal that
every American sees at least 1 30-second ad every month for the
next 24 months. Not saturation, rather a slow simmer. They should be carefully framed to define the
vocabulary of the debate.
By doing this now we control the battlefield. We set the
issues that people think about. And that is the key! Listen
carefully:
AMERICANS DO THINK! WE JUST THINK SLOWLY!
That's right. We aren't the lemmings and sheeple that
depressed liberals (incl. me) sometimes think we are. We
have strong opinions and try to be educated when possible.
But, we don't have the time to do the issues justice
with our dual income families and 50-hour workweeks.
But when we do have a snippet of time, we educate ourselves.
So, we put ideas in the public's mind right now. We slowly feed and nurture the idea so they understand it - even if they don't quite agree. The election season is used as the final sell.
Thus we cannot wait to begin changing
minds. We have to begin now. Using talking heads doesn't work
because few people actually watch them and most of them are
idealogues rigidly on one side or the other. We must move
beyond Sunday Talk and into everyday life.
It begins with short, well constructed issue ads that fire
up the conversation. Use the best and brightest in Hollywood
and Madison Ave. Use humor, wit and charm. Once that stage is
set, we move into the blogosphere, water coolers and soccer games
and bring up and debate the issues with everyone we know.
Just fire up the discussion and let the flames feed themselves.
By putting these issues into the Zeitgeist we level the playing
field.