One thing I think Republicans are good at and Democrats are bad at is picking a theme and sticking to it. No matter your feelings for Republicans, they're damned good at talking about family values (which cheating on their spouses), railing against homosexuals (while visiting glory holes), and talking about fiscal responsibility (this, from the "taxcut and spend" party).
So Democrats should start picking up themes and have some good talking points to drive home over and over, just to make sure that those who didn't get the message the first time start paying attention. For example, a few days ago I pointed out that the US requires truth in advertising but not the news. Couple that with a repeated assault on Fox lies and you can start gaining traction.
But it was this Daily Kos diary which made me think of a new angle: Republicans are PINOs, Patriots In Name Only.
Basically, that diary was about Al Franken proposing the radical idea that we should pay for our wars, not borrow money to kill people. When the Republicans forced through a tax cut during the middle of these wars, it should have exposed a horrific truth to everyone: the Republicans are unwilling to pay with taxes what our soldiers are paying with their lives.
Thing about that. Imagine a desert in Iraq, far away, a young man with dreams of a future, a girlfriend back home in the USA, screaming in pain because the shrapnel from an IED ripped through his abdomen. He might have lived, but the rest of his troop is pinned down by gunfire from an ambush. He's crying, knowing he's going to die in this strange land, not knowing why. And the Republicans won't pay a few extra dollars on their tax returns. They're on their knees, fumbling at the zippers of big business.
Meanwhile, Boehner's working to shut down the government, but he's going to get paid and the soldiers his party has sent to their deaths won't. Get that? Not only will he not raise taxes to pay for their sacrifice, he won't even pay their salaries.
Cowards. The lot of them are cowards. Regardless of your feelings about our wars, if you call for a war but you're not willing to pay a little bit extra in taxes to pay for it, you're a coward. If you're willing to pay yourself but not your troops, you're a greedy bastard to boot.
Of course, I'm sure that none of you will be surprised to note that Boehner, like so many others in Congress, missed Vietnam due to a bad back. Of course that's because, as noted, he's PINO: a Patriot In Name Only.
I would love to see this idea blogged to death. Let's have other examples of Republican Patriot Hypocrisy. It's the least we can do to thank them for destroying our country.