I've been watching this election with more of a marketing mindset this year than last. I've got my hard-wired differences with the democrats and republicans that don't really change from election to election. They put different people up, they basically talk shit about each other ultimately want to do the same things they always say they are going to do. Nevertheless, I've been watching the election process and the bump Sarah Palin's jump into the fray has given the Republicans. More specifically, I've been curious as to how Democrats will react. They came into the RNC with pretty good momentum and the entire scene was turned on its side. It seems like Barak is no longer the rock star and that particular honor has gone to Sarah Palin (for better or worse). Overall, I've been pretty disappointed with how the Democrats are responding so far. If I were in charge of their campaign, these are some things I would do:
-Shoot holes in the unity of the McCain/Palin ticket ASAP - With the Republicans pushing Sarah Palin as a politcal maverick and aggressive reformer, now is the time for democrats to attack the massive earmarks Alaska has, her spending in Wasilla and her alliance to senator Stevens. They need to show how Palin's record demonstrates the exact things McCain claims to be against. Since the Republicans are basically keeping Palin away from the spotlight, now is the perfect time to get McCain/Palin on the defense. Democrats have a great opportunity to force her and McCain into explaining the discrepency.
-Stop Talking about how "We Don't Need More of the Same" - Are we really in 2008 pretending hedging on a line like this will work? Here's a clue Democrats: anybody this line is going to resonate with is already voting for Obama and any undecided is hearing the same thing from the other side. It's a dead-locked zero-sum argument and it's a loser. Replace this talking point with some specifics. What exactly don't we need more of? What is it in the McCain/Palin ticket's agenda that supports that? We know McCain voted 90% in agreement with the Bush administration, but what does that mean for the future? Keep this 'more of the same' talk focused on the economy. Narrow the focus.
-Bring your A game for the debates - This is a problem for democrats. As Bush would say, "they misunderestimate". Year after year. It's pathetic. Govenor Palin and Senator McCain are already being branded as underdogs for this from what I can see, and if there is one thing the Republican Party is good at, it's holding their own in a debate. Do not assume you've got this in the bag beacuse Biden has the experience and Obama has the eloquence.
-Frame the battle around Education - I think this is a weak point in the Republican platform Democrats can hit on. And it sounds like this is an area a lot of moderates are concerned with. Show how open enrollment will lead to more closed schools because the system isn't set up for people to compete (I personally flip flopped on this after talking with my mom). This is also a great segue into Obama's education plan, which hasn't really been discussed in detail (although I suspect it'll be a hot point come debate time).
-Stop talking about how important it is to create wealth for the middle class and just talk about creating wealth. - This is a position the liberals in America take I whole heartedly disagree with. It hasn't, nor will it ever be, the governments job to figure out how to make the middle class more wealthy by comparison. This position is an insult to everybody who worked from the ground up to earn higher incomes (I pigeonhole myself in this category) and democrats rely on people's ignorance to this in order for it to work. They need to re-brand their entire tax plan around creating wealth and making everyone better off (even though it won't for the upper upper classes who will be much worse off). I think they could do a much better job of selling it through to Americans by cutting out this "Oh the most important thing we can do is make the middle class wealthy!" bullshit.
But of all these, the first up should be the McCain/Palin division. They really need to attack the republicans from how the records of Palin and McCain don't sync up at all. There's a lot of really powerful points to be made that not only SHOULD Palin and McCain explain, and since we know McCain only met Palin for 15 minutes before the RNC, there's a strong argument to be made against McCain's "maverick 'thinks for himself"" position. The Republican ticket seems to hinge on the unity of the party and how effectively they shore up the base. Shoot holes in it and do it fast.