American Issues Project has a new ad running starting today. While the ad would have been more effective had it come out before the stimulus vote passed, it is an extremely effective ad. It will be crucial for republicans to win back the House and Senate in 2010 to kill some of this wasteful spending in 2011.
While the left is railing on this ad as a come to Jesus moment, it is in fact not a religious ad at all. The fact that they refer to Jesus in the ad is for historical purposes, not religious ones. They very easily could have use other historical points in history, but using one of such significance makes a much stronger case in the ad.
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7 comments:
Stacey,
I dunno, I think the addition of Jesus in the ad was meant as a rallying point for the faithful. It is typical fare for the Right to wrap their ads, and their talking points around the Bible and the flag.
From this Lefties perspective, that $1M could have been better utilized putting forth a better idea, or used to actually help people who are suffering. Silly us, maybe they could use it to fight FOCA (rofl).
On that note, what exactly are the Right doing to help people with their lack of jobs (9-15%)? Are they reaching across the aisles trying to broker some sort of alternative? Oh that's right three of them did, and it would appear that hell hath no fury like a filabuster scorned?!
If you folks really think that offering better gridlock as a rallying cry for 2010 is going to work, then you haven't been looking at public opinion polls for congress. People may disagree with congress, but they love the fact that they are listening, responding, and working very hard to be effective.
Personally, I hope the Republicans keep shoving their faces in mics, and flexing their political might. IMHO the light really brings out their lack of ideas and hateful rhetoric quite nicely!
Oh, and I just have to give a shout out to Harry Reid... the man saw the Burris train wreck, but despite his best efforts, could not legally avert this embarrassment. He doesn't get much credit for doing much of anything right, so here is a little "I noticed"....
Peace.
Rick Beagle
Stacy,
Ugh, my deepest apologies for spelling your name wrong. Good friend - habit kind of excuse, but it still comes off rude. Sorry for that!
Rick,
If you think that ad is trying to rally the faithful, I think you're missing the point. Faithful or not, Jesus is a powerful historical figure, one with whom most everyone is familiar. What we're not all familiar with is just how much money $800 billion is. None of us have ever seen that kind of money, much less fathomed it. AIP did not invent the practice of taking something unimaginable and reframing it in the context of something familiar. It's what great writers and speakers do all the time.
You also ask if the Right is reaching across the aisle to come up with an alternative plan. You may not have heard that there were Republican alternatives and many, many efforts made to make this stimulus bill something more of us could agree upon. Republicans in the House presented a formal alternative bill. Republicans in the Senate did the same thing--a proposal that cost half as much money and created twice as many jobs. The Republican alternatives did not merely focus on tax breaks--though most of us agree that must play a role in any successful stimulus if there is such a thing--but rather focused spending on things like the housing market. Most Republicans have no problem with funds to help the housing market recover; the problem here is that so much of the stimulus money is being spent on things that will not stimulate the economy or help average Americans get their jobs and their peace of mind back.
Respectfully,
Katie
(In the interest of full disclosure, AIP is one of my clients.)
Katie,
Thank you for your comments, but I think in the context of the post there was some disagreement as to whether his placement was religious in connotation or just happened to be the historical figure selected. I submit that his selection was purposeful and consistent with the historic mixture of religion, patriotism, and the conservative/Republican/right message.
As to the Republican "plans" the Senate one at least was somewhat plausible, but the House plan was just fluff (come on, even the faithful have to admit this wasn't anything other than posturing).
Okay, what about the Senate plan? To wit, it wasn't even supported by their own party. In all of the interviews, only a couple of people even mentioned it (McCain being one of the notable exceptions) and zero effort was made to include elements that would have procured Democrat votes (come on, even Dems have their sacred cows). In the end, even the Senate "plan" was scuttled by the originating party in favor of sniping at the current proposal.
Which brings me back to your ad, what is the point of that $1 million dollars that you are spending? Like the two bills you mentioned, it looks like you are just using it to snipe the new Law rather than offering anything remotely close to tangible.
By comparison, the Dems have offered Recovery.org so that we can see what the money is being used for. We may not agree with their priorities, but giving us a tool to track that money is kind of cool (time will tell how useful it is).
Do you see what I am getting at here? This ad continues the perception that the Republicans are simply interested in sniping at the current law without presenting anything useful, while the Democrats continue to roll out ideas and tools. Again, you may not like the Dems ideologically, but given the recent polls, people like the fact that their government is working again.
Just my two cents for what it is worth.
Please, feel free to educate me if I have any of this wrong (sincere request).
Regards,
Rick Beagle
Thanks SGP!
You're a little late, after eight years of Bush's vast expansion of government and the national debt.
All of Congress is to blame, not just Democrats.
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