Posted on 11/27/2003 8:58:49 PM PST by ServesURight
Democrats Temper Praise for Bush Visit With Criticism By ADAM NAGOURNEY
With his Thanksgiving Day excursion to Baghdad, President Bush moved to regain control of an issue that Democrats have increasingly viewed as a political liability, reinforcing his commitment to the war while displaying solidarity with troops his rivals had accused him of neglecting, Democratic officials said yesterday.
The surprise visit stunned and confused his rivals, who struggled — in the midst of Thanksgiving dinner — to balance praise for the president's gesture with renewed criticism of his Iraq policy, which they said would be among his greatest vulnerabilities in next year's election.
"It's nice that he made it over there today, but this visit won't change the fact that those brave men and women should never have been fighting in Iraq in the first place," said Jay Carson, a spokesman for Howard Dean, one of the biggest critics of the war among the nine Democrats vying for the party's presidential nomination.
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts issued a statement saying that the trip was "the right thing to do for our country." But, he added: "When Thanksgiving is over, I hope the president will take the time to correct his failed policy in Iraq that has placed our soldiers in a shooting gallery."
David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, described the visit as a "daring move and great politics," but added: "I think these kids need more. I'm sure they were buoyed by his coming, but they need more." The trip came at a time of rising criticism of the president for not attending the funerals of the returning war dead. It also came in the same week that Mr. Bush met with families of 26 soldiers killed in Iraq, and thus appeared to be a concerted effort by the White House to deal with a political problem.
And now, in a single day, Mr. Bush may have managed to supplant what has become the single most problematic image of him in this war: The picture of him swaggering across an aircraft carrier in front of banner reading "Mission Accomplished."
That image, which already has shown up in an advertisement by Mr. Kerry attacking the president, now seems likely to be overtaken by the picture of Mr. Bush, his eyes glistening with tears, addressing cheering troops on Thanksgiving Day. It was a moment fraught with imagery that was certainly a central subject of discussion at Thanksgiving tables.
Even aides to Democratic presidential candidates expressed grudging admiration for the political skills of this White House.
"Those guys can do some pretty smart stuff sometimes," a senior adviser to one of the Democrats said.
Matt Bennett, the communications director for Gen. Wesley K. Clark, said: "We're not going to throw stones at the guy for trying to do a nice thing for the troops. When the president goes and spends time with the troops, that's a good thing."
One of the most prominent Democrats in the field, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who helped write the Congressional resolution that led to the war, declined to comment on the trip.
In this context, the Democratic candidates sought to stand with Mr. Bush in his gesture of solidarity, while not letting go of the issue of how he has handled the war since the fall of Baghdad. Chris Lehane, an adviser to General Clark, praised Mr. Bush for the trip, but said, "He also has a responsibility to offer us a real success strategy in Iraq so we can get our troops out of there so they don't have to spend future Thanksgivings in Iraq."
Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, said: "In fairness, visiting with the troops is exactly what a commander in chief should do. That said, we hope that he's also reassuring them that the administration will eventually have a plan to win the peace and bring our troops home soon."
Mr. Bennett expressed skepticism that yesterday's events would remove the issue of the war and Mr. Bush's handling of it from the table next year.
"They made their bed with that `Mission Accomplished' trip, and that's going to be around for a long time," he said. "That's not the last ad you will see with that. I will guarantee you that whoever the nominee is will have that image up."
Hey, but look, guys! All Dean has to do is take some Doan's Pills and go to any mountainous area of Iraq to show his support for the troops. I'm sure there some good slopes there.
I wonder if you need a lift ticket up by the Turkish Frontier.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Well, see, they started whining and wringing their hands as soon as they saw what the Prez did. You didn't hear about it sooner because they had to wait until their NY Slimes reporter finally finished off the last turkey leg.
He didn't want to get turkey juice on his keyboard, see. ;-)
Well, since the days of FDR, there never really was in my humble opinion.
They just don't understand that this shores up the carrier trip.
Oh please....please....please.... keep showing those images!
How great is this!
In their responses, they had a golden opportunity to be both patriotic and gracious.
Instead, they once again demonstrated they are neither.
You're right. They are killing themselves. The flavor of choice appears to be "partisan vitriol"...
This will keep them busy for a while!! HeeHee!
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