Reply #7: Dems vs. GOP: Best Weapons Are the Facts [View All]

Excellent article:

Dems vs. GOP: Best Weapons Are the Facts
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpwil043401278aug04,0,641483.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

Next month, progressive Democrats will open a new think tank, the American Majority Institute, that has an expected yearly operating budget of at least $10 million. This level of support means the institute can challenge the conservative
Republican policy shops that in recent years have been much more heavily funded and have clobbered their Democratic counterparts in selling ideas to the public.

The key question is whether the new institute has to emulate the Republicans from President George W. Bush on down in using deceptive information to mislead American citizens about their policies. Its decision whether to employ such chicanery goes to the fundamental democratic issue of informed consent.

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When sound numbers support a strong case, the American Majority Institute should go for the jugular. The attack on Republican politicians and think tanks must be unrelenting in exposing deceptive information and dishonest analysis. Be
partisan and be honest - it is not an oxymoron.

Such an effort can serve the interests of the Democratic Party and the public. Fighting deception with deception to win the presidency and Congress makes a mockery of the critical concept of having an informed electorate.