Had Enough?

It’s a phrase Newt Gingrich adapted from an ad exec in 1946 and popularized. Now he’s telling Democrats to use it against his own Party. For once, Democrats should heed Newt’s advice.

“Had enough?” certainly beats the focus-grouped hogwash that passes for Democratic slogans these days. Such as the official: “Together, America Can Do Better.” Or the even more preposterous motto floated by a prominent Dem recently: “America Needs An Audit.” As our colleague David Corn astutely noted, everyone hates audits.

“Had enough?” on the other hand, compresses all the Republicans failures into two easily understandable words. Barack Obama made the phrase the centerpiece of a fiery speech in Washington on Thursday:

I don’t know about you, but I think old Newt is onto something here. Because I think we’ve all had enough. Enough of the broken promises. Enough of the failed leadership. Enough of the can’t-do, won’t-do, won’t-even-try style of governance.

Four years after 9/11, I’ve had enough of being told that we can find the money to give Paris Hilton more tax cuts, but we can’t find enough to protect our ports or our railroads or our chemical plants or our borders.

I’ve had enough of the closed-door deals that give billions to the HMOs when we’re told that we can’t do a thing for the 45 million uninsured or the millions more who can’t pay their medical bills.

I’ve had enough of being told that we can’t afford body armor for our troops and health care for our veterans. I’ve had enough of that.

I’ve had enough of giving billions away to the oil companies when we’re told that we can’t invest in the renewable energy that will create jobs and lower gas prices and finally free us from our dependence on the oil wells of Saudi Arabia.

I’ve had enough of our kids going to schools where the rats outnumber the computers. I’ve had enough of Katrina survivors living out of their cars and begging FEMA for trailers. And I’ve had enough of being told that all we can do about this is sit and wait and hope that the good fortune of a few trickles on down to everyone else in this country.

I don’t know about you, but when George W. Bush said he didn’t believe in nation building, I didn’t know he was talking about this nation.

Obama’s been hot and cold as of late. But speaking before hundreds of women at the annual gathering of Emily’s List, he hit the perfect chords.