For years the Republicans have been winning elections by playing the “liberal card.” They have turned this generic, largely meaningless description of a political worldview into a pejorative evoking all the failures of big government without evoking any of its successes.
This proven campaigning technique has me wondering: Why aren’t Democrats playing the “Tea Party card” the same way today?
I don’t want to get into whether the Tea Party and its politics are a good thing or a bad thing here. That’s not the point of this post. My point is that most people simply don’t like what the Tea Party seems to stand for. If you say the other candidate is a Tea Party candidate, or that he or she supports what the Tea Party supports, there is thus an advantage in a great many jurisdictions and at different levels of politics, from the presidential on down.
There is absolutely noting to lose by doing this. There are no blue dog Tea Partyers. None that vote the Democratic line. You can say nasty things about these people without losing any of their votes. They are already lost.
The Democrats’ own base would like this rap. You are pushing one its buttons, reminding them why they have to turn up at the polls.
And it would play well with most independents, the proverbial undecided, because while being against the Tea Party doesn’t really say what you are for, at least it suggests clearly what you are really against.
Trashing the Tea Party also has the potential to embarrass Republicans who these days are fleeing so desperately to the middle, toward moderation. Ask a Mitt Romney or a Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts whether they support Tea Party positions, and what are they gonna say? “Yes,” and they seem too extreme. “No,” and they offend one of their prime constituencies.
In the next two weeks, Ye Democrats, play the Tea Party card. It’s not the high road to victory. But it’s a road that might help you get where you want to be. And where the country needs to be.