In reading Ed Kilgore's post yesterday on New Donkey,
http://www.newdonkey.com/2004/11/reflect-and-reform-dont-recriminate.html
a phrase he used hit a chord with me:
"Why are we defending government programs, and demonizing every dishonest Republican claim to reform them, when Washington is being run by Republicans like a country club?"
The Right has embarked on a twenty year effort to turn "Liberal" into a bad word and convince Americans that the word "Liberal" is the antithesis of family values they hold dear.
They've used Hollywood for years as the example to show people what a "Liberal" looks like.
And then, once they turned "Liberal" into a bad word, they continually attached it to the word "Democrat". They got people in this country to associate the Democratic party with Hollywood and "Elitist Liberals" by always saying the phrase "Liberal Democrat" instead of just saying "Democrat"
Well, it's about damn time we hit back.
What does a "Republican" look like?
In this year's election, people didn't see George Bush as a millionaire's son from Connecticut, they saw a Texas rancher who worked on the land. That was completely false and ridiculous, but we let them get away with it. Let's never let em get away with that again.
We should answer that question of what a Republican looks like for everyone by burning the image of a Republican elite rich heartless snob into everyone's mind.
Is outlandish CEO pay akin to family values?
Is corruption akin to family values?
Is flying in private jets and riding in private limousines akin to family values?
Is a $50,000/year country club membership akin to family values?
Are people that would spend $50,000/year so they can play golf able to understand the struggles of the common man? Would they work for the common man?
I would have to say, hell no.
They called John Kerry a Massachussetts Liberal, and guess what, that was probably what won Bush the election. The next time around, whoever is running from the Republican side, let's make them fend off the monkier of being a "Country Club Republican". A big spending, money hungry, ethically challenged, corruption loving, out of touch "Country Club Republican".
There's a label, let's use it. Let's turn the word "Republican" into a bad word. Let's make it synonymous with rich Country Club elite.
It's all about branding.
If you think this is a good idea and you think we should start fighting back and labeling them like they label us, please recommend this diary, and start combining the word Republican with two other words, Country Club, every time you talk or write about or mention the other party.