It's the Mess, Stupid!

In the age of Yelnick's Law, the political debate has devolved to, "It's the 'It's the something, stupid', stupid" advice.

This progression began with the Nixon-Kennedy debates 44 years ago, when it became clear that Kennedy won on the TV while Nixon won on the radio - in other words, image beat substance. Jimmy Carter improved on this with his cadence in answering questions, which led to his sound bites getting in the evening news without editing. Still, Carter lived in a world of eight-point programs and tackling many issues. The Great Communicator Ronald Reagan simplified even further by pushing an agenda of only three well-understood issues. With Clinton's "It's the Economy, Stupid" we got down to a single bumper sticker to capture the zeitgeist. The natural and unfortunate end state of this progression is Kerry's "Bring it on!", a bumper sticker devoid of even one message, simply indicating intention.

The early campaign has been about jobs and outsourcing. Plays in the swing states but a narrow issue to run on, and a dangerous one since given troubles in Iraq the country may rally around the President one more time rather than show weakness to the world. Also subject to temporary irrelevance due to an improving economy, since we should have one final thrust of good economic news before the election, driven by the final installment of tax rebates.

Yelnick proposes "It's the mess, stupid." Covers a lot of sins - war, deficits, jobless recovery, falling dollar, shrinking allies. A deep bumper sticker!