"Tuesday's speech, with its massive prime-time audience, may be the most important forum Bush has all year to try to seize the initiative from the Democrats and frame the election season on his terms."
-- Washington Post
On Tuesday night, President Bush will have an opportunity to broadcast his framing of 2006 and the next set of Republican sham policies without fact-check and without interruption - except for the raucous applause of Republicans in Congress. His bully pulpit will be at its zenith - but we can fight back and give the Republicans a healthy dose of reality. That's why we at the DCCC are picking Tuesday to launch an entire new website, as well as a new TV ad airing on Fox News in the hours leading up to his speech. But we thought it would be fun to give the dkos community an advance look. Click on the graphic to see the ad, go below the fold for the dkos username and password for our new "Rubberstamp" site exposing the ways in which your local Republicans have substituted blind obedience to President Bush for any semblance of loyalty to their constituents...
The TV Ad: "Rubber Stamps"
The Republicans would rather us forget what was happening around the State of the Union in 2005 - and probably all of 2005 for that matter.
We're trying to make sure nobody does. We at the DCCC have produced this ad, reminding Republicans and America of the ghosts of SOTU's past. We'll be airing it on Fox News on the evening of this year's speech, and the entire Fox News audience will get reminders of the good old days when the Republican Congress gave a huge standing ovation to Social Security privatization.
The aim of this ad is to frame the State of the Union in advance. Republicans want it to be a fresh start, to wipe the slate clean and start 2006 fresh. The State of the Union address is their best chance to do that, with President Bush getting an hour all to himself to shape the debate for 2006.
This ad reminds Americans that as far as President Bush's rhetoric goes, all that glitters is not gold. By starting off with Social Security privatization, it immediately invokes a Republican policy that at this point is almost universally accepted as a sham. It then goes on to establish that sham as part of a pattern, connecting it to the scandal-plagued and woefully ineffective Medicare bill, and the Republican energy bill. When Republicans stand and applaud tomorrow night, Republicans hope that Americans will see the charade of a fresh, new direction -- we hope Americans will see the reality of just one more cynical special interest agenda embraced unflinchingly by a Republican Conference who either can't or won't think for themselves.
I've seen many insights into this here, but it's worth reiterating that these are the themes we need to hammer home. The ethics problems engulfing the GOP are not a distraction from the Republican agenda - they are the Republican agenda. Tom DeLay and President Bush have orchestrated a pay-for-play agenda the likes of which we haven't seen in at least a century, and the rest of the Republicans in Congress have rubber stamped it every step of the way. On every issue where massive, powerful special interests have gotten average Americans under their thumb, the Republicans have sold out to enshrine that imbalance in law -- any Democratic legislation that tries to protect working Americans is barred from even reaching the House Floor.
So check out the ad - if you like it, throw us a few bucks to help us get this on the air and win in 2006 (we've got a source code to know it came from you guys). And of course, let us know what you think of it, I know you will. ;-) But that ad is only one piece of the puzzle...
GOPRubberstamp.org: dkos Preview
GOPRubberstamp.org
Advance View Username: sneakpeek
Advance View Password: rubberstamp
We'll be releasing this site to the public tomorrow at a press conference, but wanted to let you guys get an advance look at the goods. The idea is to document just how thoroughly Republicans have abdicated their responsibilities as Members of Congress to rubber stamp President Bush's special interest giveaways. We want to show America that the culture of corruption has a cost, and that the local man or woman they've been sending to Washington has been a willing, eager participant.
This shameful behavior deserves to be called out on a moral and good government basis, but increasingly this is also a huge political vulnerability for them. A little over a year ago, this was Arizona Republican JD Hayworth:
This is him nowadays:
IMUS: Would you just answer my question, would you like [President Bush] to come to Arizona and cut campaign commercials and run them on those TV stations everywhere?
REP. HAYWORTH: In a word, no. At this time.
IMUS: That's being honest. J.D. Hayworth here on the "Imus in the morning" program.
And one can understand why:
Fewer than one in 10 adults say they would prefer a congressional candidate who is a Republican and who agrees with Bush on most major issues, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. Even among Republicans, seven of 10 are most likely to back a candidate who has at least some disagreements with the president.
It's nice that Republicans are finally acknowledging that their constituents do not want them to function as rubber stamps, but it's also a day late and about three-hundred-billion dollars short - per year.
But I won't talk your ear off any more - just go check it out, and maybe even write a letter to your local editors telling them about your local rubber stamp's record and to keep an eye out for how enthusiastically they applaud tomorrow night.
