Posted on 11/24/2003 9:00:06 AM PST by jmstein7
A 30-second ad that is running in Iowa has caused panic in the Democrat Party. The RNC financed ad which features clips from the President’s State of the Union address last January had several Democrats nauseous on Sunday. So much so--one demanded that the ad be pulled from the airwaves. Better get the antacids out for the left, the RNC scoffed at the notion.
The ad is straightforward and probably will be effective, but as a political commercial is quite benign. If this kind of political speech is to panic the Democrats to the point they are demanding something like this be yanked from the airwaves, they may be in for a long campaign season praying to the porcelain god.
Democrats were quick and loud on the Sunday political talk shows preaching that it was an attack on their patriotism, an exploitation of 9/11, and the ad was an attempt to stifle dissent. That was quite a stretch. It’s evident that some Democrats are becoming more uncomfortable with their positions on national security and as the 2004 election nears are clearly overcompensating.
Call it security envy.
The Senate minority leader led the charge on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) complained, “It's wrong. It's erroneous, and I think that they ought to pull the ad.” Russert seemed astonished, and in an obvious chance to allow Daschle an out questioned, “Pull the ad?”
Daschle missed the cue and continued complaining that the ad “must be pulled.” He then went overboard showing a trait that often goes with security envy, patriotism paranoia. Daschle to Russert, “to question the patriotism of those who are in opposition to some of the president's plans I think is wrong.”
The ad goes nowhere near questioning anyone’s patriotism, and Russert pointed that out to Daschle who could only repeat the charge stating that it was “implied.”
Democrat presidential wannabe Wes Clark, the man who only recently stated he had yet another armchair plan to catch Osama bin Laden that involved Saudi “commandos” claimed President Bush was exploiting 9/11 for political purposes while being interviewed on the CBS Show “Face the Nation.” that hardly seems the case when you watch the ad, but if it were one would only need to say to Wes Clark, Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. His armchair general tactics have been exploiting 9/11 even before he entered the race. One reason Wes Clark is in this race is to attempt to shore up the security envy of the Democrat Party.
Next up was Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass). Earlier this year, Kennedy called “Operation Iraqi Freedom” a fraud that was cooked up in Crawford, Texas. He accused the Bush Administration of trying to bribe foreign countries to “send in troops.” Today on ABC Kennedy claimed this RNC ad was an “attempt to stifle dissent.”
It was hard to take that statement seriously as Kennedy was in a national TV forum dissenting while he said it.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) quickly defended the ad and the president; “It's portraying the president's leadership that he's displayed since Sept. 11, which I support, “stated McCain also on ABC. “I think it's a very legitimate statement to be made in the coming presidential election.”
Members of the Democrat Party have attacked President Bush in ads, in presidential debates, in interviews and from the floor of both houses of Congress for well over a year now. The non-partisan commitment to fight the war against the terrorists gave way to partisan politics long ago. If one rather benign ad that highlights President Bush’s strength and commitment to national security causes the Democrats to panic to the point of demanding the ad be pulled, it will be a long campaign season for the left.
The Democrats only hurt themselves when they show their weakness by complaining at the first ad that is shown for three days in Iowa. The ad is already a success as it must be answered by Democrat presidential hopefuls and will emphasize their weakness on national security.
It’s hard to take Democrats seriously on any kind of security issues when they have been dishing it out ad nauseam at the President and his policies and at the first sign of any kind of retort that portrays the President in a positive light, cry to the media that a 30-second ad is unfair and should be pulled.
Fair or not, the Democrats are already perceived by a majority of the American voters as weak on security. It’s going to be a tough hurdle for the left to jump and this kind of complaining will only stress their weakness. If they have trouble with political discourse, the question will evolve into-- how will they handle real security issues?
By again complaining to the media?
CK Rairden is a political columnist for The Landmark, a political commentator and a freelance writer.
Harder.
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