Talkin' About My Red Generation...

There's an old joke that Woody Allen uses to sum up the main premise in his Academy Award winning classic from 1977, "Annie Hall":

Two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions.

That is the way I feel about the politics and policy emanating from the New Jersey Republican Party these days. Their ideas are really terrible, and they come in such small portions.

However, I do enjoy listening to Republican apologists such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Savage, and Mark Levin on talk radio. Of late, they have become apoplectic with callers on the issue of the war. Or stem cell research. Or global climate change. As their president drops lower and lower in the polls, they have become like the band that played on ---- as the Titanic was sinking. There are icebergs all around, there are not enough lifeboats, and Sean, Rush, Savage and Levin still squawk on.

In New Jersey, if I want to know what the right is blogging on about, I do check on Red Jersey -recently changing their name from Red Generation. Don't know why they changed their name; maybe they can enlighten me.

This week, a blogger named ‘DBeck’ makes a startling suggestion for the NJGOP in his/her post entitled, “Bring on the L-word!”.

First, DBeck shares a brief history of just how the Democrats won back the state in 2001 ---“through constant moderation and selection of candidates who re-asserted these credentials" DeBeck says. Ok, that is a big “Duh!”, DBeck. So, the Democrats ran moderate candidates who espoused centrist values.... And somehow that is a problem or some sort of sneaky strategy because…?

Next, DBeck observes that the “successful labeling of GOP nominee Bret Schundler as an extremist”....“created the McGreevey landslide which brought Democrats back into power in a state where they have slight but not overwhelming legislative advantages.” Huh? The “Labeling” of Bret Schundler as an extremist? Double Huh? Schundler is a guy who was a pro-life candidate who was out of touch with main stream centrist New Jersey, period. The Democratic campaign of 2001 did not have to “label” him anything. They just told the truth. The majority of the state was not willing to elect a pro-life extremely conservative Republican as governor. You guys chose the wrong candidate in your primary that year. You had a choice of Congressman Bob Franks or Bret Schundler. You chose unwisely.

Finally, DBeck has the be-all plan to end all plans for the Republicans to take back New Jersey:

“Replace ‘corruption’ [as an issue] with, ‘Tax and Spend Liberal’ on those mailers this fall and I have a feeling we will be seeing a GOP-controlled State Senate.

And the comment following this sage advice declares agreement with DBeck by saying,
“I agree. I really hope someone over at the NJGOP read this post.”

Dig up from the campaign graveyard “Tax and Spend Liberal” ? Huh?

Is that the best you guys can come up with to help the Republican Party win back New Jersey? Quite frankly, I also hope someone over at the NJGOP reads this post. And follows your advice. It will be fun to watch this fall.

If you’re going back that far “slogan-wise”, why not try “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”? Or maybe “Save the Union”. That worked pretty well for the guy who was the last good Republican president.

Or maybe “A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage”. That seems to have worked for Hoover. Well, at least in his first election, anyway.

The only time I will be concerned about Republicans taking back the state, is when they start thinking like the Democratic Party —opposing this insane war, supporting a pro-choice agenda, supporting embryonic stem cell research, or or maybe supporting legislation that deals with global climate change.

Until then, come up with as many old slogans as you can.