A while back, I touched on the issue of how well strategy of taking the high road does or does not serve progressives when up against conservatives who win by taking the low road. Now Wayne Besen takes up the same theme in a recent column.
If you haven’t noticed, we are out of power. We can no longer afford to dismiss the right and refuse to debate by arrogantly saying that we "don’t want to dignify" the idiocy of their ideas. In the effort not to dignify, we allow our opponents to glorify the inane. When we don’t competitively offer a dialogue, it becomes a right wing monologue. Until Air America, for example, Rush Limbaugh freely spoke into the void created by our silence.
The high road is quaint, but it is not the road to victory. This, of course, does not mean we lower our ethical or moral standards, it simply implies that we vigorously engage and confront the right by knocking down each and every dirty lie and myth, while proudly putting forth coherent policies that make sense to the American people. It is time we meet the right on the low road they prefer to travel on and defeat them at their own gritty game.
Needless to say, I agree with him. I just hope more people hear that message and get serious about what we’re up against. We can worry about moral superiority later. Right now, we need to win a few.
