General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCampaign Theme: Republican Congressional Candidates Draw Public Paychecks to Do Nothing
Are Republican Senators and Congressmen not the epitome of everything they claim to be against: People who literally do nothing, yet demand to be paid (six-figure salaries no less, not including perks and payola) from taxpayer money for it?
They do nothing. Nothing whatsoever. And they want to continue to be paid by taxpayers to do nothing.
In fact, they do less than nothing, because they won't even allow anyone else to do anything.
They draw public paychecks to sit around swilling cocktails with their contributors, and cannot even be bothered to do something to benefit the country that pays them.
Lunatic Randian sociopaths would probably applaud them for this, since on their planet "The government that governs least governs best," but very few ordinary voters think this way. The vast majority even on the right have concerns that extend beyond the Millionaire Agenda's obsession with taxes and regulation, and they expect the people they elect to take action on those concerns. That's where to hit the GOP.
Republicans are hostile to every subject other than reducing taxes on millionaires and exempting corporations from all laws and regulatory limits. And Democratic candidates can prove it, easily.
Democrats can prove in 2014 that their Republican competitors are lazy, useless parasites asking for taxpayer handouts in exchange for doing nothing but sabotaging the very purpose of their jobs.
Contrast their high-paying non-performance with their extensive history of mocking American workers. Use their own line against them: "If this Republican were employed in the private sector, would they still have a job if they did it like this? You be the boss: Fire this leech in November."
Or to a Republican challenger, "Would you hire this guy to sit around your house, eating your food, and doing nothing but getting in your way? That's what he's asking for. Tell him what he wants to tell you the instant he gets into office: NO."
If Democratic insiders and base activists can overcome their natural tendency toward suicide-by-autopilot, I see no reason why committing to a strong, coordinated message can't overcome GOP advantages this cycle to a modest extent.
---
Additional thought:
This could make a superb TV / web ad: A fat, disgusting slob with a GOP button is reclining on an easy chair in someone else's house while the homeowners look on in frustration. "Thanks for letting me stay here, folks. I'll get to work as soon as I can, maybe sometime next year." They try to walk past him toward a cabinet with drawers prominently labeled "Healthcare," "Jobs," "Education," and "Self-respect," but he blocks their passage with his legs. "You don't want to go there. Oh, by the way, I borrowed your car and trashed it. Sorry, stop signs are just Big Government. So...can I stick around for another 2/6 years?" Give the slob a pronounced Southern accent in every state that doesn't have one, and make him sound like a New Yorker in the version played in the South.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I am not sure that it will sink in with congressional districts. They tend to love their Congresscritter for some reason. Only rarely do they change them.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)And having an integrated local-national strategy is key to sustainable progress across multiple election cycles.
pansypoo53219
(21,621 posts)'destroy the country to save it'.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)They would rather see this whole country disappear from the face of the Earth than live in equality and peace in a prosperous democracy with people they consider their inferiors. Fascist trash.