My favorite political tactic is ju-jitsu; but now this worries me.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

Ju-jitsu applies the simple principle of turning one's opponent's force/strength against him or her. Politically, this can be very crippling; in fact, this was the crux of the debate amongst many dem. strategists: do we avoid Iraq and focus on the economy (praise be to Howard Dean).

But we've run into some problems along the way. It's fun when people come at you head-on. You know what to expect. You can counter their force with your own or you can use their force against them. The repubs. don't get ju-jitsu: they come at you full force and think the populace are complete sponge-automatons (and they may be 80% correct here). Their latest ad featuring the Moveon.org clip is one example of their tortured, not-so-subtle attempt at political ju-jitsu. They're not so polished.

But I was thinking about this the other day. We knew for sure we'd be outspent by the repubs.--by a HUGE margin. I, and I passed it along to a few well-placed dem. strategists, had concocted one way to combat the money edge chimpy and his pioneers had over the dems.: announce loudly this advantage; ask why an incumbent would have to spend $200 million to showcase his successes. His successes should be evident (and then provide them with the numbers to show that this is not the case). It was, not to be immodest, to best way of using their money against them.

But we've done amazingly well with regards to campaign dollars. But the repubs. have beaten us to the first move of ju-jitsu. They've used it against us. How many of you have heard how well-funded Kerry is? The best funded non-incumbent candidate in the history of the republic. His wife's $1 billion? Kerry has done well, but it pales in comparison to the repub. machine. Yet they have inoculated themselves. It was really nice work.

Now, I see the line-up of Repub. speakers at the convention. Can WE PLEASE USE THIS AGAINST THEM????????? Can we PLEASE ask where Tom Delay is? How about Rick Santorum? How about Bill Frist? Mitch McConnel. They've got moderate repubs. speaking, but none of these speaker's ideology founds the basis of chimpy's administration. The Gropinator, Rudy, Pataki, McCain (VP, right)--please, people. Can we not highlight the absence of those who really represent this administration? Can we not keep asking, and pull quotes from, the likes of Delay, McConnel, et al.? Is that too hard to ask? Can we ask that the keynote speakers denounce the repub. platform?

I already know how they're going to spin the moderates' speaking time: that the repubs. are a "big tent" party. They want the masses. And the moderate repub. position polls quite well: pro-choice, some gun control, lower taxes, LOWER TAXES, socially liberal, etc. They will kick our teeth in unless we put the heat on them, UNLESS we use a little ju-jitsu.

Make them denounce Bush's statements regarding stem cell, gay marriage, abortion. No cookie cutter "no child left behind" crap. They got us on the sound-bite tax issue. We need a bit of time to lay out how the average citizen benefits from social programs versus the bogus $1,500 tax refund argument. But we don't need to explain shit; we need to make these moderate repubs. denounce chimpy's platform. Hit with quotes from Delay et al.

O.K., I'm done.

[sandnsea]

1. Yes, you're right

Problem & solution. I suggest you PM PeteNYC. The exact tactic is to ask these "bit tent" Republicans to comment on Bush's fundamentalist policies. And why the RNC didn't select Frist, Delay, or Santorum to speak. Over and over again.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

2. We could ask Delay et al how they feel about being shut out.

The Gropinator will just give some silly line. He's so fucking obtuse that he's savvy.

I'd love to see the media pull quotes from these PROMINENT figures in the GOP and serve them up to Gov. Kindergarten Copafeel.

Can we get McCain to eat his own words versus McConnel? How about McCain's "illegitmate" child?

Please, dems. get some ovaries.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. It's infuriating that these moderates serve the Bush cabal...

by speaking prime-time during the Convention. You're right, I wish we could somehow make it clear to voters that their speaking is akin to false advertising.