I couldn't agree more. I saw this ad for the 1st time today and I was blown away. Too often, the MS Republican Party is able to successfully label Democratic candidates as crazy liberal wingnuts who are incapable of understanding, much less sharing, the values of the average citizen.
However, this is a problem that the DNC has attacked head-on and made significant inroads toward correcting. A potential cause of the Democratic Party's recent (and quite surprising) resurgence in typically Republican strongholds (i.e., the elections of Cazayoux in LA & Childers in MS) has been the national party's acceptance of socially conservative Democratic candidates and the financial resources its been willing to expend to ensure their success.
One example of this recent shift in approach was the DNC's decision to allow popular Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who happens to be a pro-life Democrat, to speak at this year's convention, where he made the "that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick" quip. In the past, Casey's father, the former longtime governor of the state, was prohibited from speaking at earlier conventions due to his conservative beliefs about reproductive rights.
As long as the Democratic Party is willing to continue on its current path and expand the diversity of its elected officials and their cultural viewpoints, I think the party will continue to regain support in Republican-controlled regions. However, the Democratic Party on the local level must take initiative in repelling unfounded partisan attacks on the character and values of these socially conservative Democrats. If politicians like former Gov. Musgrove are going to prevail, they must be able to convince the electorate that they are better-suited than their Republican counterparts to protect the economic well-being of middle-class families and are equally capable of understanding and promoting their predominately conservative social agenda. This is exactly what Musgrove's new ad was able to communicate effectively. Once people understand that someone can empathize with their situation and share their concerns, it is much harder for the opposition to distort his agenda and convince the public that his policies are antithetical to their set of values.
I think this ad just complicated Mr. Wicker's task of casting Ronnie Musgrove as the flaming tax-and-spend liberal who'll be on your doorstep the day after he's elected to confiscate your guns and Bibles, which he so obviously is not. It is an important accomplishment of which other socially-conservative Democratic candidates should take note.
Best ad I have seen from any Senate candidate this year. We need to donate to Ronnie so he can run this sucker over and over.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I saw this ad for the 1st time today and I was blown away. Too often, the MS Republican Party is able to successfully label Democratic candidates as crazy liberal wingnuts who are incapable of understanding, much less sharing, the values of the average citizen.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this is a problem that the DNC has attacked head-on and made significant inroads toward correcting. A potential cause of the Democratic Party's recent (and quite surprising) resurgence in typically Republican strongholds (i.e., the elections of Cazayoux in LA & Childers in MS) has been the national party's acceptance of socially conservative Democratic candidates and the financial resources its been willing to expend to ensure their success.
One example of this recent shift in approach was the DNC's decision to allow popular Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who happens to be a pro-life Democrat, to speak at this year's convention, where he made the "that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick" quip. In the past, Casey's father, the former longtime governor of the state, was prohibited from speaking at earlier conventions due to his conservative beliefs about reproductive rights.
As long as the Democratic Party is willing to continue on its current path and expand the diversity of its elected officials and their cultural viewpoints, I think the party will continue to regain support in Republican-controlled regions. However, the Democratic Party on the local level must take initiative in repelling unfounded partisan attacks on the character and values of these socially conservative Democrats. If politicians like former Gov. Musgrove are going to prevail, they must be able to convince the electorate that they are better-suited than their Republican counterparts to protect the economic well-being of middle-class families and are equally capable of understanding and promoting their predominately conservative social agenda. This is exactly what Musgrove's new ad was able to communicate effectively. Once people understand that someone can empathize with their situation and share their concerns, it is much harder for the opposition to distort his agenda and convince the public that his policies are antithetical to their set of values.
I think this ad just complicated Mr. Wicker's task of casting Ronnie Musgrove as the flaming tax-and-spend liberal who'll be on your doorstep the day after he's elected to confiscate your guns and Bibles, which he so obviously is not. It is an important accomplishment of which other socially-conservative Democratic candidates should take note.