I wrote in my book How Democrats Can Take Back Congress that Democratic candidates should utilize the creativity of advertising professionals to come up with snappy campaign slogans: "Hire some ad-men and ad-women who do that sort of thing for a living. There's a lot of Madison Avenue talent just waiting to be tapped for this mission."

Well, it seems one of them isn't sitting around waiting to be tapped, but is trying to educate candidates on his own initiative. Continue Reading »

Rather than taking potshots at all and sundry this week, for a change I'd like to spotlight some positive ideas from the Democratic campaign trail. Two encouraging developments deserve both applause and emulation by other Democrats running for office.

The first is a local television ad for the California governor's race, and the second is a campaign tactic ("stunt" would be more accurate) from Democratic House contenders in North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio.

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There are two major anniversaries just around the corner: the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Both will have political implications in this election year. The Democrats need to realize that this is an opportunity, and use it to their advantage.

I realize this is an inflammatory concept. But Republicans have already proven they aren't afraid of politicizing both 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden. Democrats shouldn't shy away from turning these issues to their advantage, in an intelligent and respectful way.

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Step right up and place your bets on October Surprise, 2006!

What will Republicans trot out this election year? What will be their outrageous attempt to swing the election? What plot is Karl Rove et al. currently hatching to give the GOP an edge?

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There was an important news story last weekend, but it got swallowed up by the Israeli/Lebanese/Hezbollah conflict and the Connecticut primary news. Newsweek broke the story that the White House is actually planning what to do if civil war breaks out in Iraq. This shouldn't be stunning news, but with this White House it's a bombshell.

The main source for the story is attributed as "a senior Bush aide who declined to be named," so make of that what you will.

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[Those of you who don't appreciate the overuse of metaphors shouldn't even bother with this article. Go read the latest on Mel Gibson instead. You have been warned.]

President Bush's strategy for peace in the Middle East has always been eerily reminiscent of the Queen of Hearts' proclamation: "Sentence first, verdict afterwards!" It seems to solely consist of the following fantasy: "When peace breaks out, then we'll have a cease-fire." Even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who normally has no problem looking at the world through Bush-tinted glasses) seems almost embarrassed trying to explain this concept to the rest of us.

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It shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that the Democrats could have made a bold visionary change, but instead decided to tinker around the edges of a problem. While I'm glad they're attempting anything new at all, I am also once again disappointed in them for missing a golden opportunity.

This lost opportunity was the chance to fundamentally reform our presidential primary system.

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Where are all the "Ban Video Game Violence" crusaders when you need them?

There has been a trend in the television news media over the last decade which needs to be stopped. This trend is to show animated mockups while reporting war stories. These seldom enhance the news value of the story, instead merely giving viewers something to watch while the anchor reads the story.

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How many voters in Red State America would strongly consider electing a Democrat if it meant the cost of their credit cards would go down? How many swing voters would be swung by such an appeal? Most importantly, how many economically-struggling non-voters would take the time to register and vote if they were promised an end to 28% or 29% interest rates on their credit cards? The answers seem obvious, but that doesn't mean the Democratic Party is paying attention.

Last year, Representative Bernie Sanders [Ind-VT], who is currently running for Jim Jefford's Senate seat from Vermont, proposed a "Loan Shark Prevention Act" in the House. He explains it with passion on his website, and in an op-ed piece he wrote, both of which are well worth a read. He doesn't mince words, and shows remarkable backbone in addressing an issue he obviously cares about.

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In my previous post, I examined and graded the new Democratic campaign strategy document "A New Direction For America" (ANDFA) as a whole. After calling for such a document from the Democratic leadership in my book How Democrats Can Take Back Congress, I feel obliged to critique not just the overall plan but also the individual items as well.

All of ANDFA's six bullet points are steps in the right direction. However, each bears the whiff of being overanalyzed by focus groups. It seems like the Democrats started with bold ideas but then watered down and "timidified" them. This may sacrifice the chances of swing voters getting excited enough about these ideas to believe that Democrats can chart a better direction for the federal government.

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