Advice on Responding to a Presidential Address

This is the only advice to Republicans that will appear in this blog. I post it here because I can not stand any longer the useless drivel that passes for a response.

If you want to be successful, here's what you must do: Make your response a genuine response, not just a canned recitation of red meat your already committed base wants to hear. The American people don't care about your base. The American people want to hear what you think of the President's initiatives in health care, energy, education? Where do you differ with him on job creation, bailing out automakers, bailing out banks, tax cuts, tax increases?

The stock market has lost half its value, unemployment is soaring, automakers are on the brink of bankruptcy, foreclosures are at record highs -- and you, Governor Jindal, are complaining about a $140 million item to monitor volcanoes? And you, Senator John McCain are complaining about the cost of a Presidential helicopter (which Bush 43 approved)? The house is completely engulfed in flames and you guys want to dash inside to save a couple of salt and pepper shakers!

The minority response has become a non-response, nothing more than a lathered salve to the wounded left in the minority. If you want to become the majority again, you have to create a genuine response. Here's how:

Take at least one good speech writer, put him in front of a computer with a draft -- a substantive draft -- of your proposed response, and while the President speaks, allow the speech writer to re-draft your response with aggressive editing -- adding, subtracting, re-wording -- your material, as appropriate. This is what a debater learns to do in high school. This is what the Presidential candidates are expected to do on the campaign trail. It is not hard to do, and the result will be an engaging response that contributes to the debate on the issues in a substantive and productive way. I guarantee you, it can be done in real time and ready to go in less than 10 minutes after the President concludes his remarks.

You're welcome.
I'll send you a bill in the morning.

Advice to Democrats on Twittering

DON'T! What is this all about? What have we come to that a member of the US Congress feels it necessary to announce he has arrived in Bagdad on a secret mission to all the world via "140 characters or less." You think our enemies won't read your message?! Why does a member of a state legislature announce via Twitter that a member of the other party is about to switch parties, thus dooming even the most remote possibility that he will do so?! Politicians are astoundingly careless in what they say in e-mails sent from their Blackberry's.

Sitting in the middle of the President's address to the Congress, members of both parties had their fingers flying and they weren't commenting on the substance of the speech, at least not in a rational way.

My advice: if you are thinking of twittering...or tweeting...and you have a position of responsibility in government at any level, DON"T. If you have already found yourself guilty of twittering...or tweeting, STOP. Your political future depends on it. You are going to say something inappropriate or self-incriminating or possibly, career ending, in a very short time.