Drill Baby, Drill!

If I were a Guerilla Marketer, I would put up a couple of billboards along I-10 through Louisiana with Sarah Palin's face and the words Drill Baby, Drill! If had some more money, I would re-run her famous speech segment on national TV.

Why? Because sometimes the most effective marketing tools are a bit insensitive.

Oil drilling is inherently dangerous and risky. The Republican euphemism was an over-simplification of our energy crunch. Their enthusiasm was unfettered and unchallenged. It's the perfect time to challenge the message and spread doubt about their politics.

Conservative for a reason

By definition, Conservatives do not like change. Why is everyone so surprised that they react so violently to new policy? The only exception is when they want new policies that reinforce Conservative Values. It is hard to imagine that slavery was considered a Conservative Value, along with Christianity.

This is the point Liberals often forget. Conservatives don't want change.

If there is 40% of the electorate on either side that will never change their views, then the message to the 20% who will change their opinion is - do you want to be like them? That's the Republican mantra right now - to the 20%, do you really want larger government and higher taxes?

It's up to the Liberals to associate Conservatives with the values they represent. They need to do so not only to influence the 20% swing vote, but to energize their base so they will turn out and vote.

There is going to be a polar shift this year - and will be interesting to see how the Liberals respond to the call to action. Keep the change.

When Republicans sound like Socialists: It's all about jobs

A Republican from a small town affected by a factory closure has lost a rosy future: a decent paying job, medical benefits and pension. Without job opportunities, anger is focused at the big city Democrats. What is the President doing about jobs?

What would you want the government to do for you? Force a company to continue production in your small town, provide the company incentives and tax breaks, hire more people and increase wages. I don't have a problem with that - but that is called Socialism. 

I think this points to an opportunity for Democrats. There are many people who don't really know what they are - they're just mad about the situation they're in. 

Liz Cheney and Sarah Palin: Republican Future?

I think George Wil was about to barf sitting next to Liz Cheney on This Week. He appeared to disagree with her on most points, and was visibly jumping out of his chair away from her at the end of the show.

Sarah Palin choice to work on Fox as a commentator is not surprising. Liz Cheney has given her glowing reviews and the two of them working together is likely.

Liz and Sarah are not Conservative.

Will they be successful? Americans like to be infuriated. Conservatives of the past are sober thinkers - stuffy, stuck in their ways, unwilling to change and boring. Conservatives are Darwinist, believing in the survival of the fittest. Neo-cons believe in right-moving change regardless of the impact on others. They like to shake things up, reckless and damaging.

And that's where we have our opportunities - in the dumb things that they will invariable say and do. They can have their future. Republican "polarization" is the best thing that happened to the Democrats.

When public opinion matters

Both parties play the numbers. It should be no surprise that a big deal is made by Obama's current numbers. After all he won over a guy who had a 38% approval rating.

It is interesting that both Bush presidencies had historically the some of the highest and lowest approval ratings of any presidency.

It didn't help when Obama gave himself a B+ on Oprah's Christmas at the White House show. A B- would have been more appropriate.

The good news is that the Republicans, even if they do take the Hill again will have a hard time rolling back the social progress we made this year.

Historical Highs and Lows:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2007/07/approval_highs_and_lows.html

Reagan's Presidency graphed out:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8512945

Public forums

The problem with politicians is that the higher they go, the more they lose touch with the general population. The more successful they are, the more they take for granted.

Many conspiracy theories fanned by conservatives have their basis in the 'secret shadows and dark rooms'  involving unelected bureaucratic officials - decisions are made away from prying public eyes and outside of the control of taxpayers. Secretly and quietly Obama is making our country a socialist regime.

If President Obama could do one thing to dis-spell this concern, it would be to hold public summits with very people he already meets with. Sure, hold your private discussions first, but then schedule time in front of the CSPAN cameras for anyone who is interested to watch.

This open forum would go a long way towards improving public support for initiatives and policies.

Arianna Huffington is a poser

Arianna Huffington is not a Liberal or even a Populist Progressive, but is rather a conservative media tongue-wagger with an agenda to undermine Liberal politics.

She boasts about being on Sunday morning pundit shows. If you've ever watched her, she smiles with delight and kisses up to the conservatives at the table when they make their points, frowns when the liberals make theirs.

This is probably no real surprise. Media pundits love to poke holes and Arianna is vying for a more prominent role in the media. The more waves she makes, the more memorable she is, and more likely she'll get picked for a show.

If populist progressives proved anything with William Jennings Bryan, they don't get anywhere. They make lots of noise and rile everybody up, only to alienate the general population. Why? Because most people just want problems to get fixed - they don't care how, they just want it fixed.

And they just want people who make problems to shut up. Where is Newt Gingrich now?

Bottom line for Liberals: Stop wasting time, come together and get the job done.