Eureka! Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has the solution: "The 50
Percent Solution." Schumer is credited, as much as any other man,
with putting into place the strategy that regained Democrats
control of both houses of Congress.
To build on their midterm gains, Schumer says in the Jan. 29
Newsweek, Dems need a new slogan: catchy, upbeat, positive.
Something to match the GOP's diabolical cleverness in 2004, when
(according to Schumer), "They figured out specific issues that
connected to their deeply held values, defined themselves clearly
by those issues and then stood by them unequivocally. In 2004,
they did it with eight words: War in Iraq. Cut taxes. No gay
marriage." Those eight words, he says, sum up the reasons for
George W. Bush's re-election. "What are our eight words?" he
asks, meaning "we Democrats."
After all, he admits the Dems' slogan in 2006 was simply "No."
As in "No war in Iraq. No corruption. Bad economy."
Searching for the magic eight words, he turned for consolation
and advice to his imaginary friends, Joe and Eileen Bailey. No,
I'm not making this up. Sen. Schumer actually says this: "Though
they are imaginary, I frequently talk to them. To me, they
represent the hard-working and often-ignored families who are not
tuned in to special-interest newsletters or editorial pages, but
want a little something more from their government and their
leaders." (Ahem, on behalf of all of Chuck's 19 million fellow
constituents: Does the good senator really know no actual
hard-working families he might consult, who have the additional
advantage of actually existing? And who might (therefore) say
something Schumer's brain hasn't already heard?) It takes many
years in Washington before a man becomes brave enough to publicly
admit that the way he finds out what the American people really
want is to consult imaginary voices living in his head. But my
goodness, it certainly explains a lot about that town, doesn't
it?