PoliticalTalk

Congratulations in Order: Democrats Deserve Victory & GOP Must Refocus

Congratulations to you Democrats who worked hard to elect your candidates across the country. You won the only poll that counts-the election! You deserve your dance in the end zone! You took advantage of an early "Attack anything Bush" campaign to mobilize your base, a lack of progress in Iraq, visible Republican scandals, a rustbelt economic downturn, a late call for "change" and a doable promise to raise the minimum wage to attract disgruntled independents and take control of both Houses of Congress.

Republicans earned their losses. They have not lived the first principles that they preached and have lost the trust of too many Americans. Contrary to their commitment to smaller government, Republicans have outspent and out-earmarked Democrats. While talking values, their visible scandals have hurt their cause. If you don't walk your talk in Washington, you walk instead of win. One can surely point to Democratic scandals, but if you call yourself the "values party," you'd better live those values.

Thankfully, instead of blaming machines or rushing to the courts to contest races, Republicans are showing deserved humility and have put the focus on 2008. In Texas, then Governor Bush worked well with Democrats, and he's now reached out to leading Democrats in a spirit of non-partisan cooperation. Rep. Nancy Pelosi responded by calling for partnership instead of partisanship. The President's replacement of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld communicated that the voters' call for change was heard.

Cooperation where common ground can be found is important, but Republicans should work to enact change while Republicans still control Capitol Hill's agenda. Bush should challenge Congress to make the tax cuts permanent, enact portable, individual, universal Health Savings Accounts, and pass the Federal Election Integrity Act that would require proof of citizenship before voting. Since Democrats campaigned for more fiscal responsibility, he should work for bipartisan support to spending limit legislation and identifying earmark sponsors! He should also challenge the Senate to confirm Robert Gates as Pentagon chief and UN Ambassador John Bolton.

Next January 20th, the new Congress will take office. Losers don't legislate; Democrats will introduce their plan for America. They'll be forced to share their priorities, introduce bills and to suggest a plan for victory in the war against global terrorism. To the victors belong the appointments, the agenda, and the responsibility to lead. Attacking Republicans will not suffice. As Democrats work to exercise their will with a thin majority and a potential Presidential veto, expect gridlock. Senator Lieberman and the conservative, "Blue Dog" Democrats will take the place of liberal Republicans as the new power in Washington. Conservative Democrats will not stand for making Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco values the face of the new Democratic Party, or their stay in Washington will be brief. As a result, there will be no tax increases, no premature withdrawal from the Middle East, and no liberal judicial appointments to confirm. For those Americans who have wanted gridlock; they'll have their wish!

After this election, the debate about media bias is over for Republicans. Studies show that our mainstream media has given up all semblance of balance. The hostile mainstream media worked overtime to derail confidence on the war in Iraq, bash Bush and defeat Republicans. Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nerchivan Barzani observed: "CNN International and Al Jazeera are equally bad in their coverage of the situation in Iraq.... When I was in the United States recently and read the negative news in the Washington Post, New York Times and in the network TV broadcasts, I even wondered if things had gotten so bad since I had left that I shouldn't return."

In response to such bias, many conservatives have escaped to Fox News and conservative radio talk shows, but the rest of the citizens have not joined them in significant numbers. President Bush and Republicans will have to learn from President Reagan. In difficult times, great presidents go directly to the people to sell their vision. For Bush, it's time for weekly fireside chats to keep Americans informed on the good, the bad and the changes instituted to win the war for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With the Democrats' victory, a deadline for withdrawal now exists. Iraqi leaders have two years to show progress in securing democratic stability or expect American support to end and our soldiers to leave. If Americans don't see tangible progress in America standing down and Iraqi forces standing up to defend their own freedoms, the Democrats can expect to take more seats in Congress and the Presidency.

With this loss, expect the Republican Presidential candidate to come from anywhere but Washington. This loss increases the campaign stock of Mitt Romney who proved he can work with Democrats to lead change, Rudy Giuliani who has proven leadership skills and national visibility and, Newt Gingrich who conservatives will look to craft a new Contract with America. Expect Condoleezza Rice to be the vice presidential candidate. Democrats should enjoy their victory: the battle resumes now for 2008.

Byline: Dr. Terry Paulson is a psychologist, speaker, author and host to the PoliticalTalk Blog. This column appeared in the Ventura County Star, November 20, 2006 (p. B-6). Contact him at www.politicalassessment.com or at terry@terrypaulson.com.

Trading Newspapers for the Internet Has Political Implications

Frank Maguire (http://www.frankmaguire.com), in his most recent online e-zine, Thought News, observes that "The web is the new network news." His observations have political implications for a country that depends on an informed electorate. Here is an excerpt:

"Twenty years ago almost everyone took a newspaper. But in just the last few years, paid newspaper circulation is taking a nosedive. The Audit Bureau of Circulations just released its March 2005 to March 2006 report, and it's big news. The LA Times lost 50,000 readers, a 5% loss. The Miami Herald lost 9% of its readership, the Boston Globe lost 8%, and the San Francisco Chronicle lost a whopping 15%. But people are still getting news. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, 56 million people visit newspapers online, an 8% increase since last year. But unlike newspapers, people are just getting snippets of information and aren't getting the full and complete story. Yahoo News, the number one news site in terms of time spent on their pages, reports that the average person spends only 30 minutes per month there. That's not much time to take in the world. If you wonder how this up-and-coming generation is spending its free time, it's not watching TV or reading newspapers. The poll showed that 84% of the respondents spend their free time on the Internet, 76% spend their time hanging out with friends, 71% watch movies and 69% watch TV. And they're not watching Katie Couric, by the way. Their favorite networks are Fox, Comedy Central, ABC, MTV and Cartoon Network. This data came from an online poll conducted by Bolt Media and reported in the May 15 issue of Advertising Age."

Neil Postman once said that Americans have a short attention span, a constant need to be entertained, and an inability to look at anything in depth. With what the newest generation is watching, there seems to be a lot of truth to that statement.

Parties are going to have to engage people where they are. They will not read long position papers. They aren't even reading long newspaper reports or 800 word op-ed columns. My suggestion is to capture stories that engage and entertain the audience while conveying important information. The West Wing entertained while communicating political values. Both parties will have to find ways to do that.

That is why I wrote the book, The Dinner: The Political Conversation Your Mother Told You Never to Have. It chronicles a fictional but factual conversation between a Democratic and Republican couple over dinner. The conversation is engaging and informative. The book takes off when the Democrats are surprised that the other couple is Republican, and they are asked to explain why.  If you are intrigued and want to learn while be entertained, try visiting http://www.thedinnerbook.com and find out more.

Now, what would you do to reach today's generation with messages that matter?

A Ceremony that Counts: Eagle Scout award trumps the Academy Awards

Sunday night was a study in contrasts. There was the glitz and glamour of the 78th Academy Awards Ceremony, and there was the heartwarming satisfaction of attending a Boy Scout Eagle Ceremony for a young man we'd watched growing up. As any red-bloodied American, we tried to make room for both. I Tivo'd the Academy Awards and headed off to Westlake Lutheran Church for the Eagle Ceremony for John Francis Murphy IV.

The Academy Awards selections this year were an exercise in obscurity and political activism. The movies nominated for Best Picture were not epics; they were niche movies with small budgets and even smaller audiences. Thank goodness they had clips of film highlights, or people might not have even known what they were about.

I must confess that my wife and I liked Walk the Line and Pride & Prejudice. We even found the Best Picture winner, Crash, a thought-provoking, well-acted movie. But those movies aside, all the buzz was about cowboy gay themes and a Desperate Housewife playing a transvestite. Still others focused on trashing US covert operations and unethical drug industry czars. Emcee Jon Stewart said it best: "A lot of people say this town is too liberal, out of touch with mainstream America, an atheistic pleasure dome, a modern day beachfront Sodom and Gomorrah, a moral black hole where innocence is obliterated in an endless orgy of sexual gratification and greed. I don't really have a joke here. I just thought you should know a lot of people are saying that. I've been to the parties!"

The Academy loves edgy pieces where their antagonists are rich, evil business executives or overly zealous Republican politicians bent on controlling the world. They save the best roles for liberal characters who can't win elections in the real world. Stewart provided the best line of the evening: "The Oscars is really, I guess, the one night you could see all your favorite stars without having to donate money to the Democratic Party. And it's exciting for the stars as well. This is the first time many of you have voted for a winner. No, it's good--enjoy. Enjoy your votes!"

I celebrate the freedom in America we have that allows Hollywood screenwriters to be critical of our country. But actors and directors act as though their actions are somehow courageous. Their "courageous" pieces get applauded in Hollywood and receive numerous industry awards. It would be truly courageous for a film to have a Republican hero or an executive who outsourced low-paying jobs to an impoverished village in desperate need of hope. No, that kind of courage would be seen as selling out. Courage in Hollywood is defined as saying something all liberals will applaud.

At John's Eagle Scout ceremony, we applauded something far greater. The emcee quipped that the best supporting actor award should go to Debbie Murphy, John's mother, for all the work she has done to shepherd John through the scouting maze. This was America at its best. We celebrated values worth valuing! We talked about a young man giving over 300 hours of service, of going above and beyond expectations and mentoring other younger scouts.

Families had bought their own young scouts to show them what they could achieve if they worked hard. The mayor of Thousand Oaks was there to congratulate John. There were letters from Presidents and a flag that had flown at the US Capital. As with all ceremonies, John gave a brief acceptance speech.

I congratulated one of the scout leaders after the event, and indicated that we had increased our financial support of the Boy Scouts ever since the ACLU had made them a target. He was gracious in his reply, "The ACLU has done some good things over the years, but their efforts against the Boy Scouts of America has taken dollars and hours of volunteer time away from developing more young men like John Francis."

The Boy Scouts had made a difference in my own life. As a young boy in Atlanta, I achieved my Life Scout Award and became a member of the Order of the Arrow. I attribute my love of backpacking and my confidence in handling most survival situations in the wilderness to those years. I never achieved my Eagle Award. When I moved to California, I joined a troop that loved to camp and play but did little to build a culture of excellence like John had in troop 775.

Which award ceremony do you think is more important to America? As for me, give me more Eagle Award Ceremonies and young men equipped and ready to be responsible citizens. I'd rather support an organization that celebrates what is right with America and tries to perpetuate that than patronize Hollywood liberals eager to bash anything American in pursuit of artistic "excellence." Supporting freedom of expression does not mean we have to appreciate their products or pay ten dollars to see movies the industry feels are worthy of an Academy Award.

Byline: Dr. Terry Paulson is a psychologist, speaker, author and host to the PoliticalTalk Blog. Contact him at www.thedinnerbook.com or at terry@terrypaulson.com.

(Source: "A Ceremony that Counts: Eagle Scout award trumps the Academy Awards," March 13, 2006, B-6 (834 words-sent on 3-6-06)