Democratic Conversation

George W. Bush has dragged out from the garbage can of failed Republican propaganda the phrase “Just Say No!” as a weapon in the November 7 elections. Have the option to elect a Democrat in place of failed Republican policy? Just say “No”.

This grammar school language was last used by Nancy Reagan in her lazy campaign to entice teens away from drugs. Commercials laid out the scenario: “Want to buy some crack, kid?” The easiest answer the government could offer teens? “Just say NO!” Billions of dollars later—used not for proper education about drug use but to battle the world’s drug kingpins—drug use stayed relatively steady for that age group. The lesson gained? Education is not advanced using propaganda catch-phrases.

It was lazy policy because then-president Ronald Reagan needed to do something about the rampant murder rate surrounding crack cocaine’s tidal wave use in American cities. The murder rate affected predominantly black kids in ghetto neighborhoods. Reagan’s solution? Put Nancy on the case for the soft-touch policy. Nancy’s answer? Target white kids’ use of drugs. The policy? Push a baby-talk phrase on teens whose television-ad sophistication had made Madison Avenue executives pay billions of dollars each year to draw their attention. And now George W. Bush has resurrected not just a dead phrase, but one that never had any pull to begin with.

Perhaps, however, I’m too hasty in my assessment of “Just Say No!” We are, of course, talking about Republican propaganda used against a Republican base. This base has shown incredible fealty to a failed president’s disastrous—many say criminal—policy. But Bush has used propaganda to great effect before. I think he may have found the language that works best for his voter base. While language befitting a first-grade reading level failed to turn off America’s children and teens from drug use, Republicans of voting age seem to wallow in easy words, old phrases, failed ideas, and blind obedience.