Be afraid ...

[Stockholm]

Guardian, Friday June 23, 2006
Paul Harris

snip

Fear has also become a political football. One saw it in the row over the now defunct Dubai Ports deal. Democrats raced each other to cry wolf over a move that would have seen a firm from the United Arab Emirates take over the running of some major US ports. It worked too. Ignoring the opinion of actual security experts, Democrat politicians (and many Republicans) whipped up the idea of a terrorist threat and used it to bash the White House.

I found myself in the distinctly odd position of backing President George W Bush in a fight against the anti-Arab fear mongering of people like Hillary Clinton. But the sad lesson was that fear works politically. Bush's poll numbers slumped further and the deal collapsed. Democrats had just learned what Republicans have known for years. Fear is the political gift that keeps on giving.

But if fear has become a winning formula politically, it has also become a gold mine for business. There is much money to be made from scaring Americans and very little to be made from telling them to relax, enjoy their good fortune to be born in the USA and have a nice day.

snip

more http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1803468,00.html

Dem's need to beat GOP on the real WOT, use fear to win the -06 election and defeat fear to win -08.

[Bgno64]

1. Nah, Democrats need to be...

...the party of hope.

[Skittles]

2. we have always been the party of hope

it's just that it is much easier to pander to fear than hope