Posted on 11/06/2005 9:51:43 AM PST by Graybeard58
The Democratic party appears to have finally come up with a way to explain why so many of its elected leaders gave President Bush the authority to wage war in Iraq.
Three simple words: "We were duped."
A parade of top Democrats have contended in recent days that they would have been antiwar in 2002 had they known then what they now believe to be true: that the Bush administration manipulated the intelligence in order to build a bogus case for war. In pursuit of that theme, Senate Democrats on Tuesday successfully demanded that their GOP colleagues quit stalling and finish a long-promised investigation that could determine whether the war planners were dishonest.
Many Democrats believe it's good politics these days to say that they were lied to. This message, actually a rite of confession, is designed to help their erstwhile pro-war politicians get back in sync with the party's liberal antiwar base. That's especially important for some of the original pro-war Democrats who want to run for president in 2008. After all, liberal voters tend to dominate the Democratic primaries, and they're expecting to hear apologies.
Hence, Sen. John Kerry (who wants to try again) said in a speech on Oct. 26: "The country and the Congress were misled into war. I regret that we were not given the truth ... knowing what we know now, I would not have gone to war in Iraq." Hence, Tom Daschle (the deposed Senate Democratic leader, who is weighing a campaign) said in a speech Wednesday that senators voted incorrectly because "on so many fronts, we were misled."
At least four other Democratic senators who voted to authorize war have used the dupe argument in recent days, including Christopher Dodd of Connecticut (who periodically voices White House ambitions) and Tom Harkin of Iowa (who now calls his war support "one of the biggest voting mistakes of my career"). And once having confessed, these Democrats believe they have sufficient credibility to call for the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
But not all the prominent Democrats who voted with Bush have embraced the dupe message. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hasn't renounced her vote. Sen. Evan Bayh, another presidential hopeful, hasn't renounced. Former Sen. John Edwards, another prospective candidate, hasn't renounced. Sen. Joe Biden hasn't, either.
Their reticence might stem in part from awareness of the George Romney rule of politics: Gullibility is not a character asset for a presidential candidate.
The late George Romney (father of current Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney) was the front-runner of the 1968 GOP presidential race -- until he tried to explain why he had renounced his previous support for the Vietnam war. The Michigan governor complained that he had been duped by the brass into backing the war.
Romney's candidacy soon evaporated.
voters didn't like the idea of electing someone who admitted he was capable of being fooled. And, as many political observers argue, that's the lesson for Democrats today.
Charlie Cook, a Washington analyst who runs the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Friday: "If Democrats want to argue that the administration misrepresented and distorted the prewar intelligence, OK, that's one thing. But if they push the argument that they have been duped, fooled and victimized -- well, to a lot of (independent swing) voters, they're just going to come across as weak."
The Romney rule is also invoked by moderate Democrats who see Iraq as a noble cause. Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council, warned on his blog the other day that the Democrats "are positioning themselves as a party that is gullible, feckless, and indecisive ... beware of the long-term impact on the party which already suffers from a perception of being weak on national security."
But David Sirota, a liberal antiwar activist and organizer, contends that the Romney rule is irrelevant today, because of the public's broad-based opposition to the Iraq war. (Most Americans still generally supported the Vietnam war at the time Romney committed his gaffe).
Sirota said Thursday: "Obviously, the (dupe) message needs to be played properly. But most Americans already believe that Bush mislead the country" -- polls support his contention -- "so it makes perfect sense for Democrats to say they too were misled. ... They followed tradition and gave the benefit of the doubt to a president on a national security issue, and they were lied to. That doesn't mean they were stupid. They were being patriotic.
"And rather than just apologize for being misled, Democrats need a message of outrage. Make the argument that this administration" deliberately manipulated the intelligence."
That message is dismissed by critics as paranoid; Wittmann calls it "Michael Moore territory." But the Republican Senate leaders did promise, back in February 2004, that it would investigate whether the war planners had been deliberately dishonest. Asked in October 2004 (before the election) why that key question had not been resolved, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts replied: "We simply couldn't get that done with the work product that we put out." Then, eight months ago, Roberts said the probe had been put "on the back burner."
Last week, Senate Democrats employed a parliamentary maneuver to force a showdown over the sluggish probe; as a result, a progress report will be issued within the next several weeks. Liberal bloggers were thrilled by this rare act of boldness; in the words of Philadelphia-based billmon.org, it was a treat "watching the Democratic jellyfish rear up on its hind tentacles and sting someone."
If the GOP report concludes that the Bush team manipulated intelligence, it would buttress the Democratic message about being duped. But the party's strategy could fail anyway. There is always the possibility, as some Democrats say privately, that the report will exonerate Bush, leaving Democrats to merely complain that there must have been a whitewash.
And the dupe message may be only as good as the individual messenger. Kerry, in his Oct. 26 speech, declared that "as I said more than a year ago," he would not have voted for the war if he had known about "the Bush administration's duplicity." Yet, on Aug. 9, 2004, he said he would have still voted to authorize Bush even if he had known in advance that no mass weaponry would be found. Those statements don't necessarily contradict each other, but a fresh round of Kerry nuances may not boost his fortunes.
Clearly, gaining traction on Iraq is a Democratic imperative. Bush may be tanking in the polls, but Democrats have barely moved the needle their way. In the words of party pollster Stan Greenberg, summarizing his late-October numbers, "Democrats have not made noticeable gains on thinking long-term ... knowing what they stand for, or being trusted to keep America safe."
As for the 2008 race, Charlie Cook suggests a way for Democrats to dump the dupe message entirely: "By 2008, there will be a tremendous constituency for a candidate who can argue clearly that the war was always a mistake. Forget all the senators. The answer for Democrats is to nominate a governor, somebody who never had to vote at all on the damn war."
Damn, that Karl Rove is good! Some of these people were on board with the WMD message BEFORE GW was elected the FIRST time. If any "duping" was going on it was "der slickmeister's" doing.
Regards,
GtG
Depends on how many americans are not f'ing morons themselves..
The mexican border is feeding their base.. i.e. fully half the american people voted FOR Al Gore a known and proven moron..
I just figured it out, the Weathermaster 2000 MkII has a function allowing KR to travel back in time to change the past. That has to be it. No doubt about it, they were duped, all of them and Karl Rove did it. Quick, call Fitzgerald!
Regards,
GtG
Yes, starting in 1998 when the President used intelligence to assert that Iraq had stockpiled WMD and had on going nuclear weapons programs. The were duped into supporting an attack on a sovereign country.
Given the 9-11 attack on New York, the continuing recalcitrance of Iraq to conform to the wishes of the UN and that the countries intelligence agencies changed little between 1998 and 2002 I would say that many people may have been duped.
It cannot be a good thing for the RATS to go there.
It should backfire because it is a lie and stupid message.
Yeah, saw ole Turban Dick on the news the other day. Seems after his alleged apology he has calmed down a bit. I guess his constituency put him in his place.
ROFLOLOLOL I think the inability of the Democrats to find solutions and lack of timing has made it impossible for people to take them seriously! So, watch out for Voter Fraud!
A light rinse would do!
Apoligies to whoever it was that first said it. I heard it attributed to some politicin on TV this morning.
One fact never mentioned in these stories is how the Democrats tried to push the vote for war until after the 2002 elections. Everyone complained that the American people had a right to know how the candidates felt about something that important before going to the polls to vote for them.
If the Democrats were "duped" into anything, it was on voting before the 2002 election, not on voting for the war. They all wanted to postpone the vote until after they won back their seats for six more years, which would free them to game the vote.
And, that would have been the people doing the duping, not the Bush Administration.
-PJ
Democrats should know all about being lied to. Their party leaders have lied to them for decades.
Dim Senators weren't duped into voting for the war. They actually spoke in favor of it.
Dims are just Dopes!
They never would have agreed to these things and said what they did if not for that.
So, when did they say 'these things' about Saddam, Iraq, and war?
During CLINTON's TERM.
So, if any President 'lied' to them, it must have been Bill Clinton.
Here is where they will really 'dupe' themselves, though.
Are not Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and all the other naysayers on the SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE?
Would they not be the ones with the latest intel on Iraq and Saddam?
Don't they advise the President?
So, now, who would be lying then, if the President got bad info?
You beat me to it. I should have read all posts first.
Three simple words: "We were duped."
Well, that just fills me with ALL KINDS OF CONFIDENCE in their ability to lead! How 'bout the rest of you?
So what about the statements before W was president?Are they saying Bubba lied and wasted are entire arsenal of cruise missles?Where was the evidence of wmds when bubba was President? when he destroyed all those wmds was there contamination from all the uranium that was blown up? who did the cleanups? Where are the reports of the sites we destroyed thenn now that there are reporters all over Iraq?
They weren't duped. They don't give a flyin' sh!t about WMD. They just came to realize after the 02 and 04 elections that they have to come up with something...anything to get the "7% squishy middle" to vote for them or they are hopelessly destined for 3rd party status. Without ideas or charismatic leaders of their own the only way for them to make a comeback is to criminalize the GOP. JMHO.
In either case, were we lied to about going to war?
-PJ
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Required wearing for Dems...
You're right the "duped" will backfire.
The reason is .. everybody who's anybody is exposing the previous statements made by the dems WHEN CLINTON WAS PRESIDENT. They clearly match the same thing the dems were saying after 9/11. They're trapped.
To say they were duped - is really stupid!
The dems are just looking for a way to escape for what they said about the war. They agreed to it .. but now their rapid base is anti-war and they want a way out. It's too late!!
Hillary will find a way to take Sheehan out - before she has to admit she's anti-war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.