Sure they cheat. Sure they suppress voters. Sure they release ads that border on libel; and when they cross the line they pay a small fine they can easily afford. However, regardless of these infringements, the Republicans have successfully convinced enough voters that Democrats are just too extreme to be running our country.
I for one am sick of losing, and losing because we are characterized by some false reality that doesnGÇÖt exist. However, this year we finally have an opportunity to characterize them. This year we have an opportunity to jam their rhetoric back down their throats. So letGÇÖs address each of the issues they tar us on year and after year and see how we can turn the tables on these jerks once and for all.
Republican argument
The Democrats are too morally challenged to run this country.
Democratic response
The Foley scandal displays that Republicans are morally in the gutter. They talk tough about protecting children, but when it threatens their power, they cover it up.
Republican argument
The Democrats are soft on crime. They have sympathy for criminals.
Democratic response
Violent crime is up. Illegal immigrants stream across the border to provide cheap labor to big companies who support Republican candidates. When we deport criminal gang members they get back into the country with minimal difficulty. Our kids take crystal meth, while pharmaceutical companies pay Republican officials to look the other way when criminals buy up the products they need to sell them this poison. Our prisons are so violent, with overcrowding and prisoner abuse, that most criminals return to a life of crime when they are released.
Republican argument
The Democrats are afraid to fight the terrorists. They would wait for another attack before doing anything.
Democratic response
Republican Senator John Warner, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, just returned from Iraq and said we need a change of direction. The leading intelligence agencies and the Pentagon all say that Iraq has been a recruiting tool for terrorists. Our government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars without any oversight or any clear plan on what to do. Billions of dollars have gone unaccounted for, and hundreds of millions have gone to fraudulent companies. WeGÇÖve failed to capture the terrorist leader who attacked us in the first place. We are funding terrorists by refusing to support technology to end our reliance on oil imports; with most of the profits going to Saudi Arabia who give the money to terrorists to keep from being overthrown and losing their life of unbridled excess and luxury.
Republican argument
The Democrats are anti-business and canGÇÖt stand to see anyone profit without redistributing wealth to minorities who didnGÇÖt earn it.
Democratic response
Republicans took one of the largest economic turn arounds in American history and squandered it within two years. They failed to take action against Enron and Worldcom until they had cheated thousands out of their jobs and zeroed out their retirement benefits. They passed a prescription drug bill written by the pharmaceutical companies, and drug prices still shot way up. They facilitate companies in moving plants and factories overseas, giving jobs to India and China, while devastating American communities in the process. Republicans want to see money in the hands of a few people, who signed a check to their campaigns. Democrats want to see money in the hands of as many people as possible, so that if they work hard, they donGÇÖt have to get a 2nd job and a 2nd mortgage just to pay the bills.
Republican argument
The Democrats are the party of taxation.
Democratic response
Under the Republican leadership, taxes for the average person are going up. After bleeding the federal treasury dry, and running up record deficit and debt, now state and local governments are completely constrained by picking up the load. Instead of letting the middle class keep more of their paycheck, the Republicans have given the largest tax breaks in history to people who already have enough. The average American got a few hundred dollars back from the largest tax cut in history. The wealthiest families got a few million back. The priority tax cuts for Republicans (the estate tax and capital gains tax) most benefit the top 1-2% of Americans. In the meanwhile, by cutting other taxes that Republicans despise, they have consequently drained money from our roads, our transmission lines, and our education system -- which now turns out among the worst test scores in the industrialized world. The cost of gasoline, health care, and housing have all nearly doubled since Bush took office, while interest rates crawled, leaving the average personGÇÖs nest egg the size of a pebble.
As the examples above demonstrate, the Republicans have a weak case on any of the issues where they target the Democrats. Those who vote Republican are voting for a moral collapse, a criminal breeding ground, a terrorist financing machine, economic devastation, and a massive increase in the cost of living. The question Democrats have to ask the voters is why do Republicans hate America?
lol..