Do it straight
If President Obama loses this election, I would point my finger at his inability to pound one very important message through the ever-thickening skull of America—“I’ve done some good stuff, and here’s what it is.”
It’s continually frustrating to see the Dems flub and fluster when it comes to defining their achievements. Election after election, they come up short in this crucial department. In this campaign, for example, I would have taken half the millions spent on anti-Romney bashing and used it instead to smash the following into America’s ADD-addled consciousness:
1. “I became president at the beginning of a Very Bad Recession. I walked into the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2009 and you know what I saw on my desk? A big flaming sack of dogdoo, that’s what! Thanks a heap, Dub’n’Darth! So Job One—stop the bleeding, put on the brakes, and make damn sure this doesn’t blow up into a full tilt Depression. You’re welcome.”
2. “Unemployment at the peak of The Recession, October ’09, was 10.2 percent. Now, three years later, it’s 7.8 percent. Is this great? No. But obviously, we’re heading in the right direction. Stick with me, because I think we can get it back to 5.0 percent. And I know we can do it if you get McConnell, Boehner and Kantor outta my face!”
3. “There have been no terror attacks on the U.S. during my first administration. Zero. We’ve been beatin’ Al Qaida’s ass. Those drones are damn handy. And, of course, we got The Big O. Just sayin’.”
4. “I’ve decreased the number of wars we’re fighting by 50 percent. I think that’s cool. Agree? One down, one to go.”
5. “We refused to let GM go belly up. It was not a popular decision at the time. But now, it looks like a pretty good move. Right?”
6. “The Dow Jones Industrial Average in March of ’09 was at 7,000. Now, it’s back in the 13,000s. So about 85 percent growth in three years? Not too shabby.”
7. “Finally, we got a national health care system in this country. This is a big deal. Or, as the Vice President so memorably put it at the signing ceremony, ‘This is a BFD.’ I’m proud of this. It’s a good thing. And it will get better.”
These points, cleaned up for proper presentation, would make a good, solid, positive 60 second ad. The anti-Romney barrage is old, stale and over already. Sooner or later, we want to hear about (1) what you’ve done, and (2) what you’re gonna do.
Especially important is point number 2. Stress current reality over yesteryear’s nightmare. The economy was horrible. It’s now below average. We are, indeed, bouncing back.
Reasonable people can be spoken to reasonably. The question—is the Reasonable demographic being buried by goons, blowhards and dimwits?
