Not Sure If I Am Behind This Bumber Sticker

July 13th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Keeping The Right In Line |

For those who may not have known, the Republican Party of Texas recently held a contest for people to vote and select the bumper sticker that they would tout during the 2008 election cycle. Normally I am not one to go against the voters, but in this case I must write the dissenting opinion on the bumper sticker that was selected.

I stand against this sticker for one concrete reason, it is counter-productive to the goal that it is to achieve. I know that sounds a bit too simple, so allow me to briefly elaborate. First off, this bumper sticker is going to campaign for Senator Obama as much as it is going to poke fun against him. Notice that his primary campaign slogan in big bold letters, and the Republican jab at that in smaller print underneath. I agree with one commenter over at Postcards From The Lege, when going 70 miles an hour down the interstate, all people are really going to see is “Obama For Change”.

Second, There is no advertisement for the GOP what-so-ever. All this bumper sticker is about is Senator Obama, whose name is in big bold print. I understand that space is at a minimum when it comes to bumper stickers (else they start to look convoluted like most liberal bumper stickers), but even then a “Vote Republican” needs to be incorporated somewhere on an election cycle advertisement.

And lastly, this sticker is single purpose, and does not attempt to encompass some of the other races that will be playing out this November. I hate to break it to the Texas GOP, but this Presidential election is not everything taking place in Texas. What about our 3 congressional races that are popping up on radars? How about Senator Cornyn? Perhaps we can throw him a little support? What about the Texas Lege? I, personally, would argue that here at home the outcome of those races are more important to Texas than the McCain/Obama showdown.

Now, Jake is not the type of guy to complain without offering a solution (Lord knows that we get enough of that from the democrats), so I did some thinking on my own on how this bumper sticker should have read. In sticking with the money in pocket theme, I came up with this…

“Change is all democrats will leave of your paycheck. Vote Republican!”

If graphics are an option, then a picture of a couple of pennies and nickels stacked on top of each other would make for a good touch. But either way, I find this slogan to be all encompassing of ‘08, a service to Republicans, and most importantly, not a solid advertisement for the opposing party’s Presidential nominee.

Come on, RPT, you’re better than that. But in case you again find yourself short on good ideas in the future, it’s jake@oldgovernmentroad.com. Look me up, my services are pretty cheap.  Usually a sack lunch and a balloon tied up to look like a dinosaur does the trick.