Fear Factor
On the Today Show this morning, when asked what platforms Republicans would be running on during the 2006 elections:
(paraphrased)
Chris Matthews: "Well, Republicans can't point to their record because it's dismal. They've failed to do anything on a whole slew of issues -- Social Security, Immigration, Gay Marriage, Medicare etc., etc. They gave the richest people in America a big and ill-advised tax cut during a war. Polls indicate the majority of the country aren't just against the Iraq war, most people think we shouldn't have gone in there in the first place. It looks like they'll be running on fear again -- hoping that Americans believe they're able to defend this country better than the Democrats. You know, maybe they think that the threat of a woman Speaker of the House from San Francisco will scare their constituents into voting for them. They don't have much else."
(paraphrased)
Chris Matthews: "Well, Republicans can't point to their record because it's dismal. They've failed to do anything on a whole slew of issues -- Social Security, Immigration, Gay Marriage, Medicare etc., etc. They gave the richest people in America a big and ill-advised tax cut during a war. Polls indicate the majority of the country aren't just against the Iraq war, most people think we shouldn't have gone in there in the first place. It looks like they'll be running on fear again -- hoping that Americans believe they're able to defend this country better than the Democrats. You know, maybe they think that the threat of a woman Speaker of the House from San Francisco will scare their constituents into voting for them. They don't have much else."