Rallied by Bush, Skittish G.O.P. Now Embraces War as Issue
The Republican Party are rallying around the Iraq war as a way of attacking the Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections, convinced that this will provide a formula for victory if they can persuade people that the Democrats are a party who "cut and run".
In a war who's legitimacy is constantly being defined by sound bites, "cut and run" is simply the latest Republican take on their "staying the course" philosophy which seeks to highlight stoicism as a replacement for an actual plan.
It is a deeply flawed argument and one that seems born out of desperation.
The Republicans are going well against the public mood on this one, where opinion polls show that a majority of Americans favour a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.People who attended a series of high-level meetings this month between White House and Congressional officials say President Bush's aides argued that it could be a politically fatal mistake for Republicans to walk away from the war in an election year.
White House officials including the national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, outlined ways in which Republican lawmakers could speak more forcefully about the war.
The meetings were followed by the distribution of a 74-page briefing book to Congressional offices from the Pentagon to provide ammunition for what White House officials say will be a central line of attack against Democrats from now through the midterm elections: that the withdrawal being advocated by Democrats would mean thousands of troops would have died for nothing, would give extremists a launching pad from which to build an Islamo-fascist empire and would hand the United States its most humiliating defeat since Vietnam.
The Democrats should not back off from having this argument, nor should they be cowered into accepting the premise that withdrawal hands the United States it's most humiliating defeat since Vietnam.
When pro-Republican pundits like Bill O'Reilly see the only hope for US victory to be if the US begins emulating Saddam and shooting people on sight, I think it's safe to say that the situation on the ground is so grim and unyielding that humiliating defeat has already taken place and the only question remaining is how many more have to die before Bush admits this.
"Staying the course" is hardly a rallying call that inspires hope as it implies a lack of vision, it offers no solution but, rather, attempts to make a virtue of stubbornness.
Bush has lived in a parallel universe for the past three years, in a Utopian place where he has been able to discern progress where the rest of us have witnessed only it's opposite.
His claims that Iraq is moving forward are contested by every available measurement. And the newly established government of which he is so proud is, in reality, merely the means by which Iraq's eventual disintegration will be assured.
In Iraq, Bush has lost.
If the Republicans are foolish enough to choose to make Iraq the battleground for the Mid Term elections, the Democrats should respond with three words made famous by the current White House incumbent.
"Bring It On."
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5 comments:
Kel,
I would agree, it is an act of desperation. But it is also the only thing they've got, despite their clear inability to actually perform the business of the war properly. The current GOP is a one trick pony and the damn pony is lame. Will Americans continue to buy the horseshit that the GOP know what they're doing and the Dems don't? Who knows, but as long as the Dems look even more clueless about what to do that the GOP, that will be the stick they'll use to beat the donkeys.
Recent GOP efforts to raise the spectre of gay marriage, and illegal immigration have fallen flat. In fact, worse than flat. The GOP base was riled by Bush's immigration proposal, which naturally meant that it was dropped from the discourse very quickly. And now, South Dakota seems to be rising up against that state's insane new abortion law. Petitioners have moved the bill to the election ballot in November. It might pass but now, it may very well not.
The GOP is desperate. Voters are becoming noticeably annnoyed with the usual pre-election wedge issue wrangling of the GOP. The problem for the Dems is, they look completely bewildered as to what to do about Iraq, some Dems siding with the White House, some proposing withdrawal plans. This is what the GOP will exploit.
I agree, the Democrats are divided and if they loose the coming election, I say split up and form your own party. I actually wrote a wee bit on the multi party system but as you probably know Kel, in Holland there are many and in essence, they are more representative of the diversity of opinions that are out there. I so wish that we (here in the US) would follow that route, at least in the States, but Federally it would be great too.
Anyhow, speaking of diversity, thx for bringing the Soweto kids to light... I like that you post on various topics..they're all good and all heartfelt..(plus I like the layout of your blog, nice and clear)
cheers, bed's beckoning me..
Ingrid
I agree with both of you that it's the only card the Republicans have to play as they literally have bugger all else.
The Dems are a spineless bunch but then they always have been, which makes it easy for the Repugs to attack them in this way.
The Dem should unite around a policy of bringing the troops home and they should embrace Kerry's proposal.
If Iraqis aren't ready to stand up for themselves four years after the invasion then they will never stand up for themselves.
If Bush has his way the US will be there at the end of his Presidency, which mean it will have taken longer to quell Iraq than US involvement in World War Two.
I propose spreading a counterattack to the phrase "cut-and-run". And here it is:
SIT-AND-WATCH.
Use it freely.
Amen, Musclemouth.
They have no plan. "Stay the course".
For how long? Until what?
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