Game Plan
Say what you want about the Republican Party, but there are a whole host of things that they are VERY good at. The level of cohesion and consistency with which they execute their directives is admirable, if not enviable. Often times in interviews and speeches, GOP politicians sound like a “broken record” because they rarely deviate from the script, and this script comes from the party leadership. They’re also extremely sore losers.
After their decisive defeat in 2008, Republicans crafted a plan of historic proportions to make Obama a “one-term President”. The 2010 elections marked the halfway point to that conquest, and boy did it work. The approach was comprehensive, passionate, and delivered to the most minute detail.
Remember the “Fire Pelosi” bus tour? “Fire Pelosi” bumper stickers, campaign signs, pins and hats? It was a bold calculation by then RNC chairman Michael Steele to go after the Speaker of the House, and it was marvelously orchestrated. Rep. Nancy Pelosi became more hated than anyone else in Washington, and, perhaps most importantly, she bacame a house-hold name that left a bad taste in one’s mouth. The general public, even those that didn’t follow politics, knew that in order to “Fire Pelosi” you had to vote the Democrats out of the House. The phrase was everywhere in 2010, and the campaign was so successful in fact that it helped raise millions of dollars for the RNC. Even back in March of 2010, “Fire Nancy Pelosi” was trending on Google!! It’s a testament to the effectiveness with which the GOP apparatus operates. Who cares if the message wasn’t predicated in truth or facts? It WORKED.
Seen any “Fire Boehner” materials this year? That’s because that campaign doesn’t exist. Do we need to be reminded who won in 2010??
Of course even Nancy Pelosi was not Grand Ole Enemy No. 1… that will always be President Obama. Their pledge to obstruct, weaken and destroy his policies has been the main objective, even when it hurts their damages their credibility by having to abandon previous positions. As the GOP is well aware, President Obama isn’t the far-left socialist they proclaim him to be. Many of the ideas and policies he supports were started by Republicans. This is true for the Dream Act, Cap and Trade legislation, and even the individual mandate. As journalist Ezra Klein points out in a recent New Yorker column, “Indeed, with the exception of raising taxes on the rich, virtually every major policy currently associated with the Obama Administration was, within the past decade, a Republican idea in good standing.” What they know very well is that in order for Obama to be the enemy, they must oppose him at every turn. They have placed party loyalty above our struggling economy, governing our nation, and even their own moral character. The GOP game plan is above all… especially in an election year.
Hopefully the President is starting to figure this out. But what about the rest of the Democratic Party? Dems are making a big mistake by hoping that the GOP will suddenly grow a conscience and play fair. So it’s high time that they play dirty. Liberals and Democrats should be calling out GOP hypocrisy at every turn. They should encourage left-leaning media sources to give equal treatment to their fallacies. But most importantly, the left has got to fight the money, ad and social media wars. At any given time of day, it’s apparent that Twitter has “more Conservatives than liberals”. But is this really the case? Probably not… but the Conservatives are more disciplined and tweet in concert so that their arguments dominate the Twittersphere. The GOP’s game plan is effective because they have put the time and effort in to perfect it. In the age of 24-hr news and a barrage of information, Liberals can no longer rely on facts and better argument to carry them through to election day. They need to get some real skin in the political game. Just remember Dems… the game clock is ticking, and pretty soon it will run out.
