There is an under current in our strange new world that change is once again preparing itself to come to the fore in our country. Perhaps that is the case, but in order for that to be so, we must present ourselves as the viable alternative.
In discussing this situation with some of my colleagues, I have come up with the ideal campaign to present ourselves as the party of positive change. Let’s consider some of what is going on, and the political ads that would bring out the problems.
Imagine a black television screen. A photo of a man looking at a computer screen appears and the following dialog is heard:
In Florida, two judges in two separate cases have ruled that it is perfectly permissible for The U.S. Patriot Act to be used as justification for spying on the electronic mail of everyday citizens. Our freedom is being taken away.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
Pretty strong stuff! But wait here’s another spot.
The same black screen, only this time, the fade in is to a picture of The World Trade Center collapsing, and this time we hear:
On September 11, 2001, two men from The United Arab Emirates flew planes into The World Trade Center and killed 2,000 of our best and brightest. Now, President Bush has given control of our ports to The United Arab Emirates.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
Get the point?
In case you don’t, here’s another one, using the same shot of the trade center collapsing.
In 1994, President Clinton asked the Republican led Congress for funds to stop al Qaeda and capture Osama bin Laden. They said, “No war for Monica.” In January of 2001, President Clinton told George W. Bush that his biggest challenge as President would be to stop al Qaeda and capture Osama bin Laden. President Bush did nothing but read Pat The Bunny to schoolchildren as our country was being attacked.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
How about one on the economy?
They tell us that unemployment rates are down, but they don’t tell us about all of the people who have been unemployed so long that they are no longer being counted or those who have had to take jobs at less than half of their old wages because of outsourcing. Since President Bush took office, we have been going down the road toward becoming a third world nation.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
Or one on education;
President Bush has created an education program called No Child Left Behind centered on teaching to tests, which responsible educators know is the worst way of educating children, and which requires schools to obey unfunded mandates to purchase text books from Bush’s cronies in Texas. No Child Left Behind is really every child left behind.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
And finally,
For three years we have been fighting a war based on lies, which is lining the pockets of Bush and his Republican buddies. Halliburton is overcharging us and the Bush Pentagon approves the bills. And while this all goes on, we keep creating new terrorists in Iraq, a country where terrorism never existed before the war.
Bin Laden Is Winning
Vote Democratic on November 7 and take our country back.
The best part of all of this is that it probably won’t be subjected to campaign finance rules because the advertising does not support any specific candidates for any specific offices. It is just reminding the voters of the failures of the Bush Administration and of how all of these actions have taken us along the exact path envisioned by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. These ads could be run locally or nationally. They speak to the country as a whole and to every community represented by a failed Republican. They could be smart and they could be very efficient. Most important, they could help us to take our country back.
On a roadway on the island of St. Thomas, there is a high school with the following sign in front of its building. “We don’t make history. We live it.” For those of us who are willing to live our lives without being involved, that may be true. On the other hand, for those of us willing to try and change things, there is history to be made. That history will be the election of Democrats to every open seat in the country this November and the restoration of sanity to our country through the impeachment of this most inept and immoral administration. Then and only then can we be absolutely certain that bin Laden will not win.
HENRY A. HONIG – THE PUNDIT IN RESIDENCE
