A question for the 'Inside Baseball' strategery set .......

[Stinky The Clown]

What do you think is a better strategy for our candidates, given where we are today (July 27, 2006), as they ramp up hard for the midterms?

Tactic A: Emphasize issues and compare and contrast yourself to your opponent

Tactic B: Run against Il Dunce and all that he stands for and has done (war, stem cell veto, bad judges, gas prices, Katrina, etc., etc., etc., etc.), and then work to tie your opponent to the administration.

I completely understand that neither of these is a well rounded strategy and that all campaigns will be a combination of tactics, among which might be these two. But for the sake of this conversation, lets just examine these two options, okay?

[Joanne98]

1. B

[JeffR]

2. Both are needed

But Tactic B needs to underlie everything. After half a decade of the Republicans running everything, here we stand. It's simplistic, but it's the sort of simplistic messaging the enemy has excelled at, and it works.

Naturally issues and contrasting need to be done, but what's going to resonate is pointing to things as they are and emphasizing who made them this way. That alone should be enough - barring election theft, of course - to ensure Democratic majorities in both houses.

[BillZBubb]

3. B is the best in the current situation.

Most incumbents have a huge advantage in their districts and are for the most part viewed favorably. The only way for the Democrats to pick up significant gains is to tie the local Repug to the unpopular Bush malAdministration and it's policies. Only by "nationalizing" the election this way can we regain congress. Make it a vote on Bush and his policies, not local niceties.

If we run local races, we won't gain enough seats. The sheeple can't connect the dots between their (R) rep and the fiasco in Washinton. We must do it for them, or they'll pull the lever for their current (R).

[BOSSHOG]

4. I think it is essential

that the word republican be used everytime the opponent is mentioned. Heard on the news today that a lot of these gop knuckleheads aren't putting their party affiliation on their websites and they have other priorities when it comes to photo ops with the dunce. It is also essential that a Democratic Plan be offered as an option to what has been provided "by my opponent and his republican party."

I voted for(support) stem cell research, my republican opponent does not.

I support the privacy of families, my republican opponent supported keeping a brain dead woman alive only for political purposes.

I support and defend the constitution of the United States and because of (hundreds of items) its obvious my republican opponent and his party do not. And on and on and on.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Hey Boss .... do you think there's any hope down your way for

a pickup in any congressional seat (I **KNOW** ol' Trent's a shoe-in).

[BOSSHOG]

10. Mississippi has

two dems and two gop congressmen and I think it will be exactly the same after November. I'm happy to say mine is a Dem and a gop asskicker at that (Gene Taylor - Katrina hero, South Mississippi.) I'm getting a little pissed at trent's opponent, State Rep Erik Fleming. I've emailed him three times offering a few bucks donation and to volunteer to help him out and have yet to get a response. Its almost August for Christs sake. He's not my ideal dem but it would be nice to cut the gop number by one(more.) I'm a persistent optimist but I think trent is unbeatable this year. The democratic party is not very well organized in Mississippi; they have had some silly faux pas' (at the organization level) in the past year. But I'll never miss an opportunity to vote against a republican.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. That would depend on the candidate.

There are way too many who, using B, leave themselves wide open of counter-charges of the same. The DLC, pro-war dems have no leg to stand on. They are the ones who will have to use A. Only those who actually have stood up to the administration will the able to use the, IMO, stronger and more visceral arguement of B.

ON EDIT - B might also include newcomers who have no track record of going along with the administration.

[grasswire]

6. I wonder if you had a chance to read that strategy paper...

...over at american prospect yet?

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I did ..... but I could only find the first part

There are four parts, right?

[grasswire]

11. yep (eom)

[PRETZEL]

9. Strategy A would be my best bet,

From my experience mid term elections tend to be more geared to issues closer to home. The one coming up and the last one being the exceptions over recent history. But unlike the last midterm, Iraq is not the main focus. People tend to vote their pocketbooks in the midterms as there are no national candidates. What the Dems should be focusing on IMHO are gas prices and alternatives to both reduce crude prices and to make alternatives more affordable. Prescription drug costs should also be brought back up as the medicaid bill currently in place has hurt more seniors than it's helped. And for many hurricane season is now in session. Making FEMA more victim friendly and resposive will most certainly hit home.

[Awsi Dooger]

12. Definitely A

I've been frustrated for two+ years that we've been telling people what they already know, Bush and this administration suck. Brilliant. Even if we've never said a word or spent a dollar the approval ratings would be in the 30s and our lead in the generic ballot the same. I've never seen any indication the approval rating isn't directly tied to events we have no control over.

I'll continue to assert negativity works best for the GOP, not us. We don't get that and there's relentless desperation to emulate their success. It's like a running team with a great line but lousy QB and receivers thinking it can switch to dropback passing. Let's say left wing radio was every bit as hateful and negative as right wing radio. Would that boost the ratings to anything close to Limbaugh or Savage? No bleepin' chance. It's a different audience and mindset.

Every study and all logic indicates the voters who determine our fate are white women who drifted slightly toward the GOP and national security concerns as a priority post 9/11, along with middle income working class men. IMO those groups are looking for a reason to return to our fold, and it's like a job interview, you go in there selling yourself, not telling the boss something he already knows, that the guy he's thinking about replacing has been horrible.