Random Unsolicited Political Advice

This morning I offer some unsolicited political advice for political parties and players:

DEMOCRATS:  Stop the name-calling of Republican candidates for President.  You think you're demonizing them somehow, but Republicans and Independents aren't listening and the only people being convinced by the name calling is other Democrats.  The name-calling rhetoric just gives Democrats a false sense of how the Republican is viewed by the voters.  Didn't you learn anything from two landslides following your calling Ronald Reagan as a reckless cowboy, someone not smart enough to be President?   Respect your opponent in politics or pay a price.

REPUBLICANS: President Barack Obama is an extremely talented politician.  He is very capable of coming across as a moderate,reasonable voice.  You may view him as a reckless liberal politician, but that's not how the average voter views him.   Defeating him will not be a cakewalk.

LIBERTARIANS:  If you're going to have hope to make a dent in the two party stranglehold on electoral politics, you need to have a bigger presence in the political system than being a name on the ballot in the General Election.  Yard signs should be a priority of the party because that's something the public sees and it signifies to voters you are a legitimate party. Working the polls as a libertarian would also give more of a presence. 

REPUBLICAN COUNCIL CANDIDATES:  Running for office is about putting together a coalition that gives you a plurality of the vote come Election Day.  Anyone who is in a majority-Democratic district is a fool for running as a rubberstamp of the Ballard record.  That candidate has to have Democratic votes to win and you can't there being a rubberstamp for the Republican administration.

MAYOR GREG BALLARD CAMPAIGN:    Winning votes in the African-American community involves the personal touch, building relationships over time.  If you think you're going to get black votes by running ads bragging about minority contracts, you're sorely mistaken.

MELINA KENNEDY CAMPAIGN:   I have no problem with so called negative campaigning (as long as it steers clear of being personal).  There is so much about Ballard's record after all that could be used in a negative ad, including a hundred plus tax/fee increases, misplaced budget priorities, foreign junkets, reckless corporate welfare spending, turning the administration over to profiteers, broken campaign promises, mortgaging the future, etc.)  However, I wouldn't have put education in the top 10 of Ballard's failures.  Not sure why that was the first negative ad of the season.

MIKE PENCE CAMPAIGN:  Treat Jim Wallace as a serious candidate and treat him with respect.  The best candidate is the one who runs scared.

REPUBLICANS:  Give the political rhetoric against same sex marriage a rest.  There is no proof it undermines traditional marriage and it is a matter of fundamental human decency.. We Republicans should want people to join together in monogamous, committed relationships.  Oh, and I should mention, the polls have turned sharply against those who oppose same sex marriage.  It's coming Republicans.  Let's be on the right side of history.

DEMOCRATS:  Showing a photo ID to vote is not some terrible burden. Nobody except a few extremists think that.  To compare Republicans advocacy of that to your shameful history of voting rights abuses in the South is disgraceful.

That's all I can think of now.