Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I’m At 34(%)?

Well, well, well, he’s finally done it. Bush has managed to convince even Republicans that he’s a terrible leader. I’ve been wondering what it would take to wake up the sheeple, turns out it’s selling our port operations to Dubai. Whatever, as long as their eyes are even halfway open, I say we start talking and put an end to this nightmare once and for all.

As I speculated last week, the Republican leadership has already begun changing its tune, making acquiescing noises and considering maybe they jumped on the bandwagon a bit too soon. I have no doubt that Bush and Rove have enough dirt in their bag of tricks to convince at least some members of Congress to support the deal, but selling it to John and Jane Doe-eyes will be a tough one. They finally feel betrayed by this President. Bush has scared the crap out of his base and now he’s shown them he doesn’t really give a damn about their safety. Now is the time to roll out a new slogan for the Democrats, “Let us do it. We’re better at it.”

Now that conservatism is no longer about smaller government, what with Bush growing the size of government exponentially, Republicans have shown that they are incapable of handling the task. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering their entire political philosophy is based on the assumption that government is bad and corporations are good. Now that they have been in complete control of all branches of government, they’ve been able to test their theories (again) and it turns out (again) that the average American is getting the shaft. Republicans don’t like government agencies, and as a result, they have no idea how to run them effectively. In a post 9/11 world, it is critical that our government work like a finely tuned, well-oiled machine and Republicans are simply clogging up the works. The American people seem acutely aware right now that government is the only entity trustworthy enough to provide for our security, and Democrats are poised to show that they are the only ones who can protect us. That is, if they can kick their addiction to picking the wrong message at the wrong time and losing every battle with gusto.

The Republicans have been telling us since 9/11 that they can’t screen all the containers coming into our ports. Then let us do it, we’ll show you how it’s done. Republicans can’t win this war in Iraq, so fine, step aside and let the adults clean up the mess. We know how to nation build, an exercise Republicans abhor, so let us do it. Yes, they broke it when we told them not to, but whatever, we can rebuild Iraq. First step is getting Halliburton out and the UN in. Second is getting rid of the insane tax breaks for the wealthy and make Corporate America share in the burden of war rather than letting them get away with war profiteering. The American people want a plan from the Democrats, so give it to them. Lay it out, step by step, this is what we will do to secure our ports, our nuclear facilities, our critical infrastructure and this is what we will do to mitigate the damage caused by the neo-cons in Iraq and this is what we will do to start re-building our own country and get us out of debt. Be specific, take a few of the problems, give concrete solutions and then just repeat, repeat, repeat any time there is a camera or more than one person in any room. It’s not rocket science.

Now is the time to be a little condescending. Frame the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans as little kids that simply don’t understand how things work in the real world. Talk about their willingness to believe in fairy tales like PNAC and the idea that Democracy is a gift we can bestow on others by using our military might. Expose their incompetence and paint them as weak, ineffectual and in way over their heads. They don’t like bureaucracy, but even worse, they don’t know how it works. Tell the American people that we will not outsource our security, that government is the only entity capable of protecting the homeland. And who knows government better than Democrats? Republicans are the party of privatization, where decisions are based on profits, Democrats are the party of government, where decisions are based on the common good. We are the only ones who can secure the homeland. We are the only ones who can fix Iraq. We are the only ones with any credibility on the world stage. We are the only ones who can make sure what happened in New Orleans never happens again. We are the only ones who can adequately plan for a bird flu pandemic. We are the only ones who can help America kick the oil habit (Republicans are the pushers after all). We are the only ones who can make America great again. “Let us do it. We’re better at it.”