mock paper scissors

Just the other day, I had a bit of a revelation (dont ask me where it came from): Democrats are fighting the Republicans in the wrong way, trying to use intellect to overcome the fear that the Republicans peddle. But that simply doesnt work, fear is too primal to be overcome with reason in all but the most "advanced" thinkers (a phrase that will surely get you called an elitist if you try to use it while talking to frightened conservatives).
But there's a sure-fire way to unscare many of the voters out there - it's called "humor". What is it that makes something funny? Some scientists will tell you that it is the release of tension, that laughter is a response as primal as fear, that laughter signals the end of danger, and so allows everyone to relax.
Notice, laughter comes after danger, to let you know that everything is okay now. Sure, Republicans can cry "danger" again. Let them. Make fun again, then relax. How many times will the cycle go before the "cries wolf" effect kicks in. The Bush Administration and the Republican Party has been maintaining a high level of fear for almost seven years. We know that the danger is not that great, and that we, the public, ought to be able to relax, but nobody has given the signal yet, nobody has laughed.

Republicans play upon our fears to maintain their power, and, as much as Democrats would like it to, careful explanations and reasoned arguments have simply not worked at all with much of the average electorate (it's only worked those elitist intellectuals, victims, no doubt, of too much knowledge).
Instead, Democrats need to simply make fun of the Republicans and their fears. Mock their fear-mongering. Maybe call them pussies. Done properly, the mockery can become self-sustaining, turning doom-saying Cassandras into hysterical fools. As an added bonus, Republicans tend to have absolutely no sense of humor about themselves, and so their bluster and defensiveness upon being made the butt of a joke adds to their ridiculousness.
One of the beauties of using comedy to fight fear is that the only real way to combat it is to use logic. Unfortunately for the Republican Party, many of their current policies do not hold up very well when put to intellectual tests or (especially) to conservative ideals.

Maybe the Democrats ought to think about recruiting some comedians to run for office. They're already qualified to fight the kind of battle that's needed, and it's no sillier to elect a comedian than it is to elect an actor.

Besides, after 8 years of the Bush Administration (and all the bruisingly bad behavior of the Republican Party during the Clinton years), I think the nation could use a good laugh. And at whose expense would it be better to have that laugh at than those whose policies have brought the nation so much unhappiness. We need to laugh at the Republican party. We deserve to laugh at the Republican Party, and they deserve to be laughed at*.

* Well, actually, they deserve to be jailed, or tarred-and-feathered, or run out of town on a rail, or just to spend the rest of their days unable to find a job any better than the night shift in a third-rate convenience store.
But I'll settle for marginalization through mockery.