By John Fedele
Previously, I have stated the GOP has a slate of losers to compete with the loser Democrat who resides in the White House (when he’s not on vacation or shooting hoops or playing golf).
The theme of the 2012 election is going to be “I have less baggage than you.” That applies to the GOP nominee and the Democrat nominee (I still hold out hope someone in the Democrat party will step up and advise the prez that he need not run). The problem is, the Dems have been doing the ‘baggage game’ a lot longer than the GOP. In fact the GOP has an unwritten rule that says, “do not say bad things about your opponent unless he is a fellow republican.”
Case in point: The Republican primary. Reagan said not to pick on a fellow republican (the 11th commandment) but during the primary that commandment goes out the window. It is actually a good thing. The more baggage that is exposed is great. The more negative the campaign the better. It is a preseason game before the Super Bowl.
The problem is, when the big game comes, the GOP changes its game plan. All the negative campaigning stops. The GOP does not want to be viewed as a bully. The baggage of the Dem candidate would fill a steamer trunk, but it will not be exposed.
Meanwhile, the Dems will have all the baggage of the GOP candidate, supplied by his/her opponents during the primary (and embellished by the biased media) to blast the GOP candidate.
The sad truth is the voters pay more attention to the baggage, than the candidate. If the GOP doesn’t put the Dem candidate and the media on the defensive by exposing the cold hard facts about the incumbent’s baggage, they will ensure a second term for him.
Those who say, the Dems will have no new baggage to expose because it is all out there are typical, naive GOP voters. The media can always find, or make up, new baggage. If they are proven to be wrong, an “oops” takes care of it, but it doesn’t go away in the minds of voters.
One can only hope the GOP uses the same tactics in the election, as they do in their primary.
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