Like it or not, elections are seldom decided on issues. They are decided on perceived personalities, emotions, prejudice, fear, doubt, and, if we're lucky, hope.
The Republicans have long realized the short attention span of the American public. That is why they have been so successful with short "sound-bite" sloganeering - "tax and spend", "cut and run", "soft on crime", "soft on communism", etc., etc.
You and I may care deeply about issues and may educate ourselves with all nuances and complexities of issues, but Joe/Jane Voter will not.
The Democrats cannot win with long explanations and superior knowledge. The other side doesn't care about any of that. They only care about one thing: winning.
They have a point. If you don't win, superior ideas cannot be implemented.
I would suggest that we Democrats need an up-to-date counter-strategy to GOP sound-bite attacks.
Since national campaigns are won and lost through TV impressions, we need to use that medium in a way that adapts to the short American attention span while still getting our message out in the most direct and simple way possible.
My suggest: humor, specifically short mainstream animated cartoon attacks ads.
Just as newspaper cartoons can express and focus opinions in a very blunt fashion that would be impossible or "politically incorrect" in text, animated cartoons can get away with a lot more than any other type of advertising.
I wonder if the Obama campaign has contacted people like Matt Groening, David X Cohen, or Seth MacFarlane (Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy) to help out. I truly believe that these folks could have a far greater impact on this election than the typical political advertisers.
Before the age of mainstream animated TV cartoons, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, a very progressive former college professor, beat a Republican incumbent Senator largely on the basis of his humorous TV ads.
A few Wellstone clips from Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qLSITd6_Ughttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUnnIJQYJgAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyWr9x5jbTAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPYH3sTcjCchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coRZZqZtp0Uall images below courtesy of About.com