Do we really want to hold the presidency the next four years?

A friend recently asked me if we really want to hold the presidency the next four years.  I didn't quite understand his point, so he continued.  The economy is going to be in such bad shape during the entire four years, he explained, whoever is in the White House during that time, whatever party, is going to be eviscerated by the voters for a long time coming. (Try to make the Congress Democratic instead, he argued, so as to blunt the GOP president, but still blame him for the malaise.)

Of course, we all know what would really happen.  If a Democrat is in the White House the next four years, and the economy stinks, we'll be blamed for it for a generation.  If a Republican holds the White House the next four years and the economy stinks, the country will quickly forget what he did and we'll be blamed for it for years to come.

Why?  Because of marketing.  The Democrats don't do PR.  The Republicans thrive by it.  You don't see President Obama blaming the Republicans for the horrible state of the economy (or the deficit) - he didn't at the beginning of his term at all, and now it's too late to try.   You'd better believe the Republicans wouldn't make the same mistake.

It's all well and good for Democrats to constantly imagine the Republican noise machine as some magical unbeatable monstrosity.  But what they do is really quite simple.  They beat a message to death, creatively and endlessly.  Democrats prefer to issue one dry as dirt press release, and then think they're messaging job is over (or in the case of the President, and far too many Dems, they see messaging and PR as "something Republicans do").  Thus, it simply must be dishonest, and clearly should be shunned.

Good PR doesn't have to be evil.  You can sell the truth too.  But even the truth takes some brains to sell.  Sadly, too many Democrats think the truth sells itself.  How's that working out for them?