"Republicans' anger strategy has Democrats defensive"
Hillary Clinton is not my candidate, but if she's angry, more power to her.
In recent months, GOP operatives and officeholders have cast the Democrats as the anger party, long on emotion and short on ideas. Analysts say the strategy has been effective, trivializing Democrats' differences with the GOP as temperamental rather than substantive.
"Angry people are not nice people. They are people to stay away from. They explode now and then," said George Lakoff, a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley. His book "Don't Think of an Elephant" has become something of a Bible for Democrats trying to improve their communication with voters.
I disagree. I think the time has come to be angry. I want an angry candidate.
If a candidate isn't angry about half a trillion dollars wasted on a war we should never have started, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about 2,264 of our finest, bravest lives snuffed out for a mission without clear goals or justification, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about tax cuts for the rich coupled with benefit cuts for the poor, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about the majority party in our Congress selling its influence to the highest bidder, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about the destruction of the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coasts, including one of our greatest cities, through incompetence and dereliction of duty, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't OUTRAGED by the continuous drumbeat of fearmongering, using the deaths of almost 3,000 people to strip the rest of us of our civil liberties and constitutional protections, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't disgusted by the use of intolerance for one group disguised as "values" to pander to the religious right, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about the lies that have been told about brave, honorable veterans in attempt to discredit their messages, they're not the candidate for me.
If a candidate isn't angry about the President of the United States violating his oath of office by attacking the Constitution rather than defending it, they're not the candidate for me.
It's time for Americans to be angry about what has been done in their name and what has been done to their nation. We should all be angry.
As Democrats we should be angry, but more than that, as human beings we should be angry. We have a right to be angry. If we're not angry, there's something wrong.
Give me a candidate who understands that and can communicate that.
We've got to stop falling for the "friendly advice" from the opposition that tells us that nobody likes angry. We keep losing because our candidates stand up and calmly, rationally explain what the other side is doing wrong. The other side responds by attacking our character, our values and our morals.
We need passion. We need fire. We need candidates who give speeches like Southern Baptist preachers. We need to be angry and we need our candidates to be angry.
Republicans win elections with fear. The antidote to fear is anger.
It's time to repeat the mantra of Network: I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!
