Republicans' 'Liberal' Attacks on Democrats Losing Their Sting
For many election cycles, Democrats have had major problems with being tagged as tax-and-spend liberals. The "L word" was a motto used by Republican candidates to sink their Democratic rivals.
Guess what? The Republican brand may be the losing one in 2008. Even some Republicans are openly talking about it in the face of significant losses in recent special elections.
Previously-held GOP House seats in Illinois, Louisiana, and even Mississippi have been won by Democrats. The Republican candidates looked to the L word and linked it to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal.
It didn't work.
Some Republicans on Capital Hill are scurrying around for answers. For instance, a new slogan, The Change You Deserve, was trotted out.
One little problem there was that the word change has been a constant drumbeat by Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Even a Republican veteran in Congress, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, said his party was in its worst condition since the Watergate scandal. The GOP lost 47 seats in the House in the first post-Watergate election.
Davis is not seeking re-election this year although he could probably have held his seat. The Democrats could capture it.
All of this occurred while President Bush was on a swing through the Middle East with almost nothing to show for it.
The president inserted himself into the presidential race by calling it appeasement to talk to terrorists or radicals. He told the Knesset in Jerusalem that it reminded him of actions before the German Army swept into Poland in World War II.
The next stop was Saudi Arabia, where the leaders of the kingdom were not pleased with Bush's warming words to the Israelis. Bush's call for increased oil production fell on near deaf ears in a country we have been generous toward with arms.
Before a return to Washington, Bush had words of warning for the Palestinians and the Israelis on the need for peace and a Palestinian state. That did not sit well with either side.
So the L word may still be a call to arms by the Republicans this fall, but voters may not be listening.
Tags: Democrats | elections | liberals | Republicans
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (14) | Print
Reader Comments
The Change We Deserve
"The Change You Deserve" *
Clinical trials have show the new and improved Republican Platform Prescription XR for America which was created to treat general anxiety, social and panic disorders may have serious side-effects.
Studies have shown the most common side effects attributed to XR reported in at least 26% of patients (and at least twice as often as with those administered the placebo) were propensities for nausea (31%) and constipation (10%).
Also revealed were increased instances of depression, decreased libido, agitation, nightmares, delirium, blurred vision and difficulty focusing.
The control group taking the placebo were four times as likely to experience irritability.
XR is known to cause loss of appetite, cold feet, postural hypotension and hemorrhoids (see Bend Over For Bush Syndrome).
May cause yawning, and/or sweating during election cycles.
Most common side effect is flatulence and political hubris.
Less common side effects include acne and/or pustular rash.
Not a controlled substance and has not been studied in clinical trials regarding potential for abuse.
Consult your family doctor if symptoms persist for more than four years.
For the musical version: http://changeyoudeserve.wordpress.com/
* Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. trademarked ad copy for Effexor XR
The Antidepressant You Deserve
What a bunch of idiots. After what I'm sure was a lot of hemming, hawing, research, test marketing, etc, they come up with a slogan that was previously used for an antidepressant:
Quoting:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/12/gops-new-slogan-already-b_n_101376.html
"What the GOP doesn't seem to realize, because they are idiots, is that "the change you deserve" is the registered advertising slogan of Effexor XR, a drug that many of you might have started taking as a result of all the...you know -- terrorism. (Hat tip to Bluestem for catching this gem.)
Effexor, also known as Venlafaxine, is approved for the treatment "of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults." Its common side effects are very much in keeping with the world the House Republicans have striven to build: nausea, apathy, constipation, fatigue, vertigo, sexual dysfunction, sweating, memory loss, and - and I swear I am not making this up - "electric shock-like sensations also called 'brain zaps.'""
Obama may well be the only cure to these symptoms.
"Si, Se Puede!"
Boil those definitions down!
Don't imagine the election is a done deal for Democrats just yet. It, first of all, REQUIRES the team-up of Obama/Clinton, a unity not yet accomplished.
As for LIBERAL, the word is negatively alive and well. To the under-educated voters, the word is is made by Republicans to mean three things: 1) They'll take your guns 2) They'll murder babies 3) Queers will somehow "destroy" YOUR marriage (although your own infidelity and resultant divorce is far more likely.)
What the under-educated don't get is "conservative" does not mean God rules.
It means corporations rule, and that's ALL it means. The rest is smoke.
advertisement
John W. Mashek covered politics in Washington for four decades with U.S. News & World Report, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Globe. His primary beats were Congress, the White House, and national politics. He covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996. He was a panelist in three televised presidential debates in 1984, 1988, and 1992.