Democrats: Delay the DeLay Tactics

Democrats,

I've already heard and read about the carefully-crafted catch phase "Culture of Corruption." It's lovely, but there are three problems with it:

1. It's too early to throw down the gauntlet.

There's a lot of nasty stuff circling the Republican party right now, between Abramoff, DeLay, Frist, and even Rove himself. It's really tempting to start characterizing the entire party as corrupt. But please hold back. Hold back until the Spring of 2006. And slowly turn up the volume through the summer, and then lead to a crescendo in the fall, just in time for the elections.

2. It's too broad of a charge. It opens you up for attack as typical Washington Partisans.

For every DeLay, there is a McCain. Don't fall into the trap of overplaying your rhetoric (again). Tweak the "Culture of Corruption" tag-line to "Ring of Corruption." Sure, it doesn't have the alliteration that you might fancy, but a "ring" is much more defined and, frankly, harsher than the broad term "culture."

3. Do not get politically involved in the details of these investigations.

At this point in time, the bulk of these "corruptions" you're talking about are still in the allegations phase. And, unless you forgot your American Values, you'll clearly recall the idea of "innocent until proven guilty." If even one of these cases ends up clean, it effortlessly removes all the teeth from your "Culture of Corruption" attack.

Some hints on how to communicate effectively on this matter, without getting yourselves burned:

"Republicans like DeLay, Frist, Rove, and others are going to do what they're going to do with their time. Let their actions speak for themselves. Democrats, on the other hand, not being under various investigations of wrong-doing, are going to use the extra time we have to solving this country's real problems: the deficit, rebuilding our Gulf Coast, and finding a solution to the Iraq problem."

"It does look as though there is a ring of corruption within the Republican party right now, but the good news is that Democrats are free from these legal distractions, allowing us to work full-time to represent the American people."

"These various alleged scandals in the Republican majority, unfortunately, just add to the crisis of confidence the American people have with their government. America does better when American citizens trust their government. With Republicans having majorities throughout government, I think it's clear that we need to establish some balance between the parties if we're going to make America strong again."

"Corruption scandals, indictments, and malfeasance like this are the inevitable result of an imbalance of political power. The American people need to vote in 2006 to re-establish a healthy balance of power to ensure that Washington has checks and balances."

Think about it: There is no way Democrats can win the White House and Congress in 2006, so use this opportunity to appear to be the noble party, and develop the message of "balance of powers" for 2006. Tie these corruption allegations to an unhealthy imbalance, and encourage Americans to vote for balance in Washington to avoid even more scandals.

Start now. Get comfortable with the message. Tune the message in targeted markets, and then unleash the ready-for-prime-time message in full force in Spring 2006.