Reply #5: post to Pelosi: So you want to take the gloves off? [View All]

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For inspiration, go rent compilations of wrestlers Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick Foley featuring their WWF
title runs. I am not joking. Because pro wrestling is all about theater and stage craft and that's where you need help in winning over the public. And Vince McMahon and the writing crew behind the scenes of the wrestling show did a magnificent job of building drama, taking anti-establishment under dogs like Austin and Foley and getting the crowds to chant their names. Pay attention to their interviews, their use of anecdotes and how they gesture to drive home
their points.

I'm not saying you need to drive a beer truck onto the floor of the House of Representatives and spray Tom Delay (although I'd pay big bucks for that on PPV) or to take a folding chair and smack it upside the head of Katherine Harris (although I'd love to see that too). But Americans love scrappers fighting for what they believe. And you need to give a figurative finger to the powers that be, the ones shutting down your debate.


People learn to despise those who take abuse without fighting back -- as unfair as that might be. People love to see others stick it to the man. And in this case, the man is the Republicans who control Congress. That's one of the reasons why when Harry Reid shut down the Senate invoking a little known Senate rule on national security, Americans loved it. Punndits railed against it. But that was the moment when Democrats began to rise in the polls. You want to show Americans that Democrats are strong on national security, you've got to fight against the bastards with every thing you've got.

OK, after you watch the tapes, I want you to put speaker after speaker on the floor at every opportunity to talk about the crimes of the Republican Party. No more playing quietly to get along hoping the Republicans can be reasoned with. They can't. And don't be afraid to make waves and don't worry about what the Beltway insiders will say. You focus on the damn prize. People love hungry challengers. And your challenge now is to clean the House. Don't let them shut you down quietly. Shut the House down on procedural votes and every other rule book trick. It's not like the Republicans have offered any worthwhile bills anyway and they aren't letting Democrats pass meaningful legislation.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/5/212735/8096