The trickle down theory, which actually means what it says, i.e. everything stays at the top, except the little bits that accidentally trickle down!
In moving on from the primary, Reagan was able to sell the ultra conservative agenda to the public via his ability to speak in a powerful way. He presented many simple slogans that people could remember. One of the things I would like to see Obama do during his campaign is to start debunking those myths thereby taking this powerful tool away from the Republicans. The slogans are almost without exception contradictory, if not down right nonsensical. The approach I am thinking of is to counter the slogans with equally powerful counter slogans, but not on the cheap. It needs to be done carefully. When McCain says "Tax and Spend Liberal" Obama first explains his point in detail then says something like "it is not the liberals who caused this, it is the Borrow and Keep Republicans! The Borrow and Keep Republicans are not even conservatives, true conservatives are people of high moral values, these politicians are not of high moral values! These politicians have been robbing the poor and giving to the rich for the past 27 and a half years, depriving the vast majority of Americans of their fair share. It is time we stopped these borrow and keep Republican Politicians!" (Two key points: 1. 27 years, including Bill Clinton in that group, where he belongs. 2. Targeting the politicians, not conservatives is key; these people are using conservatives, not supporting them. Not that I agree with conservatives on any level, but at least they have some convictions, all be they misguided ones and I am less offended by that then the people who abuse their naivete for personal gain!) Someone smart should go through each of the Republican slogans and derive answers to them, similar to the one above (read Don't Think of an Elephant! for more details)... then just wait for McCain to step in the trap.
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