Warm and Fuzzy Republicans Are Leaving Themselves Open to Attack

by Bill Barnwell

While the Republican Party is busy touting "diversity" and "inclusiveness," the vultures on the left are preparing to smear the daylights out of them. The liberals and their media mouthpieces are getting a big kick out of this charade going on in Philadelphia. As Dan Rather writes, the Republicans are just, "acting liberal so that moderates won’t think they’re extremists." Inside the liberal mind, anything short of a giddy endorsement of homosexuality or socialized health care is "extremist." Conservatives aren’t simply wrong in their philosophy, but they are evil.

It is no secret that the only way for Democrats to win elections is to scare people and to shamelessly lie about their opposition. It’s no different this time around. If Republicans run the show, education will fall apart, seniors will die off by the tens of thousands because they won’t be able to get prescription drugs, 11 year old girls who are raped by their 14 year old brothers will be forced to die giving birth to unwanted children, black churches around the country will be burned down by Confederate flag-worshipping racists, gays will be rounded up and sent to concentration camps, civil rights will be set back decades, and the undeserving rich will continue to prosper by exploiting the working poor.

On the other hand, if the Democrats run the show, they will fight for minorities, gays, women, immigrants, the poor, the disabled, the homeless, the exploited, the overweight, the vertically challenged, the transgendered bald guy across the street, etc. And let’s not forget, the Democrats are so very very very sincere and they "care."

Of course, this is all nonsense, but like or not millions of people believe this junk. Part of the reason is that Republicans are so inept at defending themselves and at selling their message to the American people. As a result, Republicans have concluded that the only way they can win is to act like Democrats, thus that nauseating performance on Monday. (As I write this Wednesday night, a retarded girl has just been trotted onstage.) But don’t think for one moment the race and class warriors on the other side are buying it.

Republicans can suck up to teachers and promote Head Start and the Department of Education all they want, but the liberals are never going to like them. They simply see this as an attempt by a bunch of middle-aged white guys to look more "mainstream."

Instead of sucking up to a bunch of people who are never going to like them anyway, why don’t Republicans actually try and sell their theory of smaller government, individualism, and morality? Oh, it is too "divisive" they say, and the only people who would dare question this rosy and sunny event are doom and gloom cranks. OK, we will accept the "pragmatic" premise that we must sprint to the left, ignore abortion, and be "positive" in order to win.

Guess what though, while the Republicans put on a happy face at their convention, the Democrats are going to come out at their own and do what they do best: lie, smear, and distort. Bush people will yell back, "But the people are tired of negative campaigning!" However, that is a complete fallacy. Whether people want to admit it or not, the truth is negative campaigning works. I don’t care what the polls say. Most people are not going to admit that they are swayed by sleazy attack ads full of half-truths, but they are.

The Democratic Party is full of very good liars. They know how to scare people and they are incredibly successful at putting Republicans on the defensive. The Democrats are going to have their claws sharpened at their convention. They will reserve their best smear-artists for the prime time speaking rolls.

Don’t think for one moment that Hillary Clinton and Al Gore aren’t going to "go negative" when it is their turn. Everyone watching will get to hear all about how Republicans want to destroy the livelihoods or hardworking union members while simultaneously cutting the taxes of the greedy rich. We will hear how the Democratic Party is the real party of diversity and how the Republicans simply trot minorities in front of the camera to look "inclusive."

We will surely hear the lies about how great this administration is and how its policies brought us out of the recession. The Democrats will remind the nation how they saved the country from a government shut down brought by Gingrich thugs. Expect to hear how they have tirelessly fought for a raise of the minimum wage and broader health coverage against the will of uncaring conservatives.

As usual, hordes of individuals will believe all this nonsense and Republicans will again be put on the defensive. And as usual, Republicans will simply stomp their feet instead of putting up a fight. In the end, all the sucking up to "soccer moms" will have been pointless once the lying race and class warriors have their own convention. Perhaps then, the Republicans will decide to take on the left.

August 4, 2000

Bill Barnwell is a freelance journalist and co-editor in chief of www.thepotatoe.com

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