1115.org

Sometime during the first few months of 1115.org, I needed access to some Republican talking points. Putting the interests of our readership ahead of my own sanity, I took a deep breath and signed myself onto the Republican National Committee website as a “team leader”. I got the information I was looking for, but with an unfortunate side effect — a continual stream of e-mails from the RNC and Bush-Cheney ‘04.

While most of these e-mails are mirror images of the ones sent to me by the Democrats and John Kerry’s campaign, you can be sure that a few gems slip through the usual “give us money” background noise. Recently I got one from the RNC accusing the Democrats of pulling an “Extreme makeover” by putting forth a moderate platform instead some over-the-top left wing manifesto.

(click the thumbnail image to see the full e-mail)

According to the National Journal John Kerry and John Edwards have the 1st and 4th most liberal voting records in the United States Senate, making theirs the most outside the mainstream national ticket ever.

Democrats know an extreme makeover of Senator Kerry’s 20-year Senate record and their party’s angry rhetoric is required to get the support of the American people.

So, Democrats and John Kerry are orchestrating an extreme makeover before they present themselves to America at their national convention in Boston next week; hoping to take a far-left duckling and produce a centrist swan.

It started when they adopted a platform with moderate and centrist language.

Heavens! Those scary liberals are trying to put one over on Ma and Pa Main Street by pretending to be moderates, instead of showing their true colors: pot smoking bleeding-heart pinkos who—by the way—hate apple pie and NASCAR races. Never mind that Kerry and Edwards are not even close to being the most liberal members of the Senate—according to this ranking system by political scientist Dr. Keith Poole, they rank #23 and #21, respectively. And never mind that the last Democratic administration (under Bill Clinton) was much more centrist than rampaging-lunatic liberal.

But to really get the humor of this RNC letter, you need only to look at the speaker list for their own August convention. Compared to whatever so-called makeover the Democrats are attempting, the Republicans are trying to change their public faces more than the Wayans brothers in White Chicks. Prime-time speaking slots have been handed to people like former and current NYC mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, New York Governor George Pataki, Arizona Senator John McCain and California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. For the most part, these speakers are moderate Republicans who have disputed the Bush Administration’s handling of major issues; in addition, every one of this group (with the exception of McCain) is pro-choice. Influential Republicans who wield immense power in pushing through a conservative agenda—like Tom DeLay, Sam Brownback and Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum—are noticeably absent from any plum speaking slots. Talk of decisive social issues will be toned down in favor of rhetoric about security, the economy and (of course) September 11.

While the Republicans are complaining about the Democrats’ convention “makeover”, they are busy setting up the smoke machines and mirrors to distract people from their own policies. If nothing else, they have proven themselves to be hypocrites of the first order. In the concluding paragraphs of the RNC e-mail, they say that they “won’t let their [the Democrats’] Boston facade go unchallenged”. It’s up to us to make sure that the same scrutiny is focused on the Republicans in New York.