Ah but the optics! In politics
appearance is all important, don't you know? So say the pundits.
And the pants wetters are now looking for someone to blame for the defeats and for lessons we can learn from the defeats. Perhaps that
is why many of the people commenting on my post on Daily Kos seized
upon the following paragraph:
“Supposedly some of the most effective advertisements against the
Democratic Party's congressional candidate, Jon Ossoff, were the ads
trying to tie him to Nancy Palosi. Interesting who the Republicans
choose to villainize, isn't it? And what was Nancy Pelosi's great
crime? She is widely considered to be one of the most effective
Speakers of the House ever. She managed to get passed by the House
Of Representatives a very impressive body of legislation such as
Dodd Frank and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. What legislation
did John Boehner usher through the House? Well, we had an almost
monthly repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, two government
shutdowns, and a downgrading of America's credit rating because of
the refusal of the house to raise the debt ceiling in a timely
manner. Paul Ryan's record is even worse than John Boehner's record.
I guess the Republicans do not like competent politicians. All
right, in all fairness I guess I should say they do not like competent
politicians who actually get things done that Republicans do not want
done: things like health care reform, raising the minimum wage,
protecting our economy from the abusive behavior of Wall Street and
investment banks, and/or protecting women or members of the LBGT community from employment discrimination and wage discrimination.
The bottom line is that Republicans hate Nancy Pelosi and Hillary
Clinton because they are very good at what they do, and the
government should not be doing anything at all according to
Republicans!”
Before some of you get your panties in
a wad over what I have just written let me say that we should improve
our approach to the upcoming elections, and yes, I would like to see
some young, dynamic leaders such as Barack Obama emerge to carry our
party forward. But that does mean we should replace someone as capable as Nancy Pelosi because the Republicans have succeeded in demonizing her. That is cowardice. We must stand by our people no matter how good the Republicans are at demonizing them, and I will grant you that the Republicans are very
good at it. They started very early with Hillary Clinton and have
spent decades castigating her for faults and offenses exaggerated
and/or imagined. They have also succeeded at portraying Nancy Pelosi
as an arrogant, liberal intellectual. In Republican world knowing
too much is worse than knowing nothing. The Republicans believe
ignorance is bliss because they blissfully exploit the ignorant! But
that is an aside and another topic. My point is that we must realize that Nancy Pelosi is not the problem, and we must fight
back!
Do not let the Republicans make it a battle of personalities, make them address the issues. When they castigate you for voting with Nancy Pelosi, choose the ACA, the increase in the Minimum Wage, etc. and ask those bozos if they appose affordable heath insurance and living wages. Remind the voters that it is policy that will determine whether we will have an economy that will work for them, and that starving just because you do not care for someone who is sitting at the table is not a wise thing to do! That is not an intellectual statement unless you think hunger is something you have to go to college to learn. Hunger is actually something college grads and working people share. For college grads it is a post graduate coarse they inadvertently enrolled in when they took out their student loans. For the working men and women in this country hunger is a condition brought on by the jobs they lost and the wages that have not kept up with inflation. Trump exploited the anger over that, and he is now demonstrating what everyone should already know, to wit that wrecking the car will not make it run better.
Ignore the anti-intellectualism. Ask yourself why Bernie Sanders is not considered a know it all intellectual? I know some wag will probably say because “socialism” is a bogeyman the Republicans like better. That is probably true, but in using that bogeyman they are still fighting on the ground of issues, and that never favors them. We must make this about jobs, health care, and increasing the opportunities for all.
Do not let the Republicans make it a battle of personalities, make them address the issues. When they castigate you for voting with Nancy Pelosi, choose the ACA, the increase in the Minimum Wage, etc. and ask those bozos if they appose affordable heath insurance and living wages. Remind the voters that it is policy that will determine whether we will have an economy that will work for them, and that starving just because you do not care for someone who is sitting at the table is not a wise thing to do! That is not an intellectual statement unless you think hunger is something you have to go to college to learn. Hunger is actually something college grads and working people share. For college grads it is a post graduate coarse they inadvertently enrolled in when they took out their student loans. For the working men and women in this country hunger is a condition brought on by the jobs they lost and the wages that have not kept up with inflation. Trump exploited the anger over that, and he is now demonstrating what everyone should already know, to wit that wrecking the car will not make it run better.
Ignore the anti-intellectualism. Ask yourself why Bernie Sanders is not considered a know it all intellectual? I know some wag will probably say because “socialism” is a bogeyman the Republicans like better. That is probably true, but in using that bogeyman they are still fighting on the ground of issues, and that never favors them. We must make this about jobs, health care, and increasing the opportunities for all.
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