The smartest thing the US Democrats could do for the next two years is split the Republican Party down the middle between the church-focused social conservatives and the less-government economic conservatives. Karl Rove (has his middle name always been “Christian?”) and Grover Norquist have been masterful at holding these two unrelated groups together in one party, but if we are able to show the social conservatives how they need to pay more taxes to support their social agenda, and show the economic conservatives how the lack of social programs and safety nets hurt the economy, then perhaps these two groups can be split apart fighting about what programs to fund.
The best-case scenario is that the social conservatives start a new Evangelical party which pulls people out of the Republican party—then it’s a Democratic majority all the way down the line. This has got to be Rove’s worst nightmare.
We need a sound bite, along the lines of, I lost my job to outsourcing, I lost my health insurance to an underfunded pension plan, I pay all these goddamn taxes, and I still can’t buy liquor or porn at the grocery store.
Or something.
August 25, 2006