Posted on 07/05/2004 10:08:11 AM PDT by Reagan Man
In Washington State, a Democratic candidate for Governor is promoting something called the "65-10" rule. Under the scheme, property owners can only build on ten per cent of their property. The rest is required to be left in "its natural state", whatever that is. The gubernatorial candidate advocates the plan as a way to "preserve these natural processes" by drastically curtailing private property rights.
In a speech to Democratic contributors at a fundraising event in San Francisco, liberal darling and former first lady Hillary Clinton said "Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
In a stump speech to his supporters, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry quoted self-proclaimed Communist poet Langston Hughes, saying "Let America be America again..." Hughes is also known for his verses extolling Marxist socialism, and advocating a Godless society.
In Michigan, Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm pushed through a seventy-five cent per pack tax on cigarettes, threatening to take money directly out of educational funding to balance the budget if the tax didn't pass. The tax was followed in short order with not-so-veiled threats that citizens caught bringing cigarettes into the state from neighboring Indiana could be prosecuted for felony tax evasion if the import was large enough. Large enough in this case is six cartons of cigarettes.
In Massachusetts, the state legislature again failed to craft an amendment to the state constitution to preserve the integrity of marriage as "between one man and one woman".
These things seem pretty shocking, and sent the "Red radar" up for a good many political observers. Why, what is this governor thinking, trying to seize a person's private property for the state?
The only thing really shocking about this sudden outpouring of the political ideals of the current crop of Democrats is that it surprised the public. This was all regular fare throughout the Clinton years, and it's more a mark of the short scope of the public memory than it is any new and revealing look at Democratic leadership.
We should use the opportunity as a wake up call. Political opponents of the conservative movement aren't gone, just contained for the moment. The public hasn't dismissed the political ideals of the left; more urgent matters have just displaced them. If Republicans believe that they have been successful in stamping out Clintonian politics, they are mistaken. The liberal left is alive and well, and salivating for the chance to return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The same can be said for candidates up for re-election to the Congress. There is no shoo-in coming in November.
The Bush team has had a few good weeks, but the left is relentless. A number of polls showed that the President had recovered some ground in his position, but the left didn't rest. They polled, and polled and polled, until they found a poll that said just the opposite of the good news. This shouldn't be a surprise either, during the 2000 election, the left wanted to count votes, and count votes, and count votes, and maneuver the rules until they could produce a result that they wanted. Because the left has positioned itself so that bad news for the country is good news for them, they only need to wait. Bad news will happen. Another American will die in Iraq, there will be another surge in oil prices, there will be another down cycle in the market, and the left will be standing there ready to point the finger of blame at the President and the Republican Party. Just as they vote-mined during the 2000 election, they are waiting, and mining for bad news during this election. And thanks to major media outlets, the good news is buried, and the bad news is center stage, every day, everywhere.
It isn't enough for conservative supporters to extol the virtues of their ideas while pointing out the failings of the ideas of the left, however. And, there is a problem, a pretty serious problem at that. Liberals win on simple ideas, things that are easy to understand and explain. When the contest is about Grammy's medicine, or about junior holding up the local convenience store, the left wins. The ideas are easy to present, easy to explain, and find a shared chord of experience in the mind of the audience.
Conservatives win on broader and more difficult concepts, the nature of freedom, the workings of the economy, the importance of spirituality. The challenge, and the problem, is explaining concepts like gross domestic product, or frictional unemployment to a public that is content to live, work, and think at the level of the latest episode of "Friends". While the left can score major points by saying "I feel your pain", the right is expected to feel the pain, figure out why it's there, find the cause, and fix it before the left can lay claim to the improvement. When it's all done but the singing, the right is lucky if it doesn't find itself blamed for the pain in the first place. And when it comes to conservative ideals, packaging things like "the value of work", "fastest growing economy in the industrialized world", "morality" and "decency", the right has a rough row to hoe. The left can say "we all want and deserve a beautiful world", and get away with it. For the right to respond with "we all deserve a beautiful world, balanced with a robust economy and respecting the private property rights of the individual" leaves it sounding like the right is making overly complex excuses for bad behavior.
A growing economy is good news. Rising employment is good news. Containing terrorism overseas is good news. Rising high school graduation rates are good news. Falling crime rates are good news. Relief from the relentless interference of the eco-left is good news. Increasing nationalism and patriotism is a good thing. Growing pride in the nation and its prosperity is a good thing. All are things that have happened during the Bush administration. All are things that are buried by the bad news that feeds the left, because they are difficult issues to grasp. The challenge for the right is packaging these things in a way the public can understand, relate to and care about, so that the American future isn't one of collective farms, 90% tax rates and the total loss of religious freedom of expression.
See how difficult the task is? What difference does it make if the farm is rented, the paycheck is all given to the government, and there's no trip to church Sunday morning, so long as there's a generous supply of corn flakes and beer available from the central committee, and the lotto is in the hundreds of millions? Where's the remote? It's time for "Survivor in the City"...
I'm no genius, but what would our Democrat Overlords allow us to do with the other 25% of our property?
They would permit you to use the other 25%, so long as you don't cover it with "impervious surfaces"...
The Kerry propaganda machine is shameless.
The RNC by now should have painted the real picture of Kerry.
It's not enough to talk about his voting record and how "He is the most Liberal Senator"
Kerry needs to be portrayed as somebody who speaks French and wouldn't support the death penalty for the perpetrator is his wife and kids were murdered.
Somebody who didn't have enough sense to support the first Gulf war and who the enemy wants to win.
Somebody who will put his hand in your pocket and cost you, I don't know, lets just make up a number like the rats do, say $1,400 per family if he gets elected.
Instead we have this parade of wasp milquetoasts who drone on montonously, ennervating in fact, while the leftist propaganda machine keeps Kerry in the game.
The RNC needs a street fighter in charge, not what we've been getting.
They are confusing the liberal self immolation responsible for the current GOP majority with sucess on their part.
The GOP enjoys a majority in spite of the RNC.
The time of reckoning is nigh.
It's kind of obvious what this guy's communication problem is, isn't it?
How about simply telling the truth and exposing the democRATs for the Marxist taskmasters of the new slavery that they are? What the h*ll are we afraid of, that they might not like us? Here's a clue....THEY AREN'T GOING TO LIKE US NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, SO WHY NOT DO THE RIGHT THING?
The RNC could go directly against the media's premier faces such as Koppel and Wallace by replaying their personal opinions against the president's actions. These opinions could be the voiceovers to images of mass Iraqi graves and remains. That could be followed with the appropriate excerpts from the "original" JFK's inaugural address...
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge--and more.
Follow that with the angry rantings of Teddy Kennedy, dissolve into the assured confidence of a GW Bush quote and ask the question, "Who speaks for you?"
What do you expect when the head of the organization sits on the board of the United Way.
Racicot apparently has a tough time recognizing the enemy.
Thanks. I though Racicot was out and Gillespi was running the show now. I don't know much about either but it is a safe bet that when an ad they run is objected to by the professional objectors, the RNC will cave and apologize.
The point is your property belongs to the state. Its blatant socialism disguised as environmental protection. Oh and yeah later they'll confiscate your remaining 10% too. If Washingtonians are so stupid as to vote for a candidate for Governor who wants to abolish private property rights, they'll get exactly the type of government they deserve.
Gillespie is "running" the RNC, so effectively and making such an impact that I had no idea Racicot had moved on to screw up something else.
Glad to see the RNC broke the mold and got somebody completey different to put a charge into things /s>.
It won't happen. The candidate in question, Ron Sims, is so left wing, even my wife's head-in-the-sand, knee-jerk Rat voting relatives would never vote for him. Which is exactly why I'm going to request a Rat ballot for the primary, and vote for him. His opposition in the Rat party, Christine "It's my turn, dammit" Gregoire, is from Eastern Washington, and while her views are almost as radical (just disguised a lot better), she could actually win the election with support from both sides of the state.
Sims already ran a statewide race in 1994, and lost to Slade Gorton for US Senate, 44-56 percent, in a state that's had nothing but Rat governors and a couple of RINOs for generations. According to The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Gorton retained his seat over Democratic challenger Ron Sims, a member of the Metro Council. A Seattle Times poll reported that voters were less influenced by issues than they were by the personalities of the candidates. Gorton won votes based on his integrity, his politics, and his experience. People tended to vote for Sims because he wasn't Gorton."
Anyone who thinks Slade Gorton has a personality doesn't get out much. He's a decent guy, but if he gave a fireside chat, even the fire would go out.
This time around, Sims has a track record as King County (the county where Seattle is) Executive, and has made a number of radical proposals. He's come out loudly for a state income tax, which has always been soundly trounced by the voters of this state. His call for an income tax even inspired my wife's politically uninformed Rat-voting relatives to say that Sims "sounded like a damn Republican"! Any attempt on my part to argue with them on this point would have had less fruitful results than trying to convince my dog of the stupidity of the remark.
He's also against fishing of wild salmon (says hatchery fish are not a replacement!), has called for legalization of gay marriage, and is flirting with socialized medicine as the "cure" for rising health care costs.
In any case, with Sims as the Rat candidate, the election of Republican Dino Rossi would be assured. With Gregoire as candidate, indeed, it would be "her turn". I urge all my fellow Washington Freepers to get their lib friends to vote for Sims in the primary, and if they can stomach it, to ask for a Rat primary ballot, and do the same.
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