Posted on 11/07/2005 3:15:37 AM PST by RWR8189
Where does President Bush go from here? U.S. deaths in Iraq hit 2,000, which sadly had the antiwar crowd celebrating. Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination for the Supreme Court, which had just about everybody celebrating but Mr. Bush. Syria plotted to kill a Lebanese leader, and the leader of the world organization responsible for doing something about it tried to protect Syria instead. Sen. Tom Coburn put forward at least two amendments to cut pork, and just 13 senators voted for it--including only one Democrat, Russ Feingold, who is looking more and more like a great presidential candidate who sticks to his principles.
Things seem to look terrible for President Bush--and yet, I think this is going to turn into a great success story.
Think long-term. There are two major actions Bush made in his first term: toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and cutting taxes. The Iraqi people, for all the horrible things that are still happening there, are progressing very nicely, including passing a constitution, just a couple of years after the war. That is a major success story, and somewhat unprecedented in history. Meanwhile, the economy has been running so well that nobody even brought it up for a while until the hurricanes hit--and yet gross domestic product rose at a 3.8% annualized rate anyway. Mr. Bush is, wisely, sticking to his guns and refusing to raise taxes to make up the losses, as taxes would not solve the problem, only exacerbate it.
This forced the country to think of other ways of coming up with revenue--notably, not wasting it on pork projects. Bloggers rallied (and still are rallying) with Porkbusters, while Sen. Coburn pushed to cut the pork in the Senate. At the same time, Mr. Bush's nomination of Ms. Miers met with
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I believe that this White House does a poor job of communicating to the American people. In the information age, this is a very serious drawback.
On the other hand, I also think they do a good job of riding the inevitable ups and downs of political fortune and managing to time those rides so that they crest in popularity right around election time.
It doesn't matter how low Bush is in the polls now. What matters is next September and October. If the pattern holds, he should be up again by then.
Still, what's the point of letting the lies and deceptions of the Democratic Party go unanswered and unchallenged 95% of the time? Why do they do that?
"I believe that this White House does a poor job of communicating to the American people."
Agreed. When some are talking about a possible "house cleaning" in the Bush administration, I'd like to suggest the cleaning start with McClellan, Bartlett and the rest of the lame communications staff.
Things have gone downhill since Karen Hughes, Ari Fleisher, Tori Clark, and Mary Matalin left the WH. As much good as Karen Hughes is doing representing us around the world, her services are sorely needed at the WH.
Bush needs a "War Room". Charges must be answered immediately. As it stands, McClellan and company wait until a story has been through two or three news cycles before they begin to address it. They are constantly playing defense when they should be playing offense.
Handing them the rope. By the yard. For that long, long drop.
Things have gone downhill since Karen Hughes, Ari Fleisher, Tori Clark, and Mary Matalin left the WH. As much good as Karen Hughes is doing representing us around the world, her services are sorely needed at the WH.That is so true.
I'd like to suggest the cleaning start with McClellanHis inability to respond like any decent human should have responded to that disgusting "sloppy seconds" question from that disgusting low-life "reporter" was a level of personal failure on the level of Dukakis unable to respond to the hypothetical question about his wife getting rape-murdered.
Handing them the rope. By the yard. For that long, long drop.That's what I believed back in 2002, when the policy was still young. And I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited... and it's true, Bush wins elections, and it's hard to argue with success, but as far as the "long drop" goes... we're waiting... waiting... waiting...
Meanwhile, it's established "fact" that Bush "lied" and "tricked us into war".
And that's just one of about 10 "established facts" that are now chiseled in media stone and are long past due being corrected. "Established facts" that the public isn't even thinking about anymore, that they just accept.
The best time to correct a blatant lie and deception is when it first comes out, not months later, years later, election-cycles later, when everybody has moved on to other things.
Bush won in 2004. And I'm grateful for that. I worked hard for that. I gave money to that.
But I honestly believe that the Bush campaign in 2004 pulled victory out of the jaws of a landslide. And they seemed to do it willfully. Almost as if they didn't want a landslide. Like they were afraid a landslide would offend their friends the Democrats.
An example of how this White House fails to communicate is the economy.
It is "established fact" that the economy is bad and I do not believe that even the average Republican voter knows that in fact this "established fact" is the exact opposite of the truth.
It's obscene that the "established fact" of a "poor economy" is left unchallenged in the media.
Only been waiting since 2002? You're a n00b (just kidding!).
Of course that's too short a period to notice the trend. It's been dropping since 1994, and is accelerating. I recommend lengthening your perspective.
No doubt. It's time for Scott McClellan to go.
Has there ever been a woman Press Sec (or whatever McClellan is)? Wouldn't Karen Hughes be great???
I heard Bill Krystol on FNC last night saying, "I'm getting tired of doing defense for the White House. They are usually in a perfectly defensable position and they are silent."
I think it was Brit who said he had heard that the White House Admin people were alway under orders to "change the tone in DC" and the White House now believes it is impossible and they will now be more agressive in defending their positions. I HOPE HE IS RIGHT.
Did anyone else hear this ?? I think I heard the re-play of Wallace's show.
I heard Bill Krystol on FNC last night saying, "I'm getting tired of doing defense for the White House. They are usually in a perfectly defensable position and they are silent."Some here don't like Krystol. Call him a whiner. I think he's often right, and definitely right on about this.
Unfortunately, in our media-driven society, perception becomes reality.
A large percentage of the population is "fed" information and doesn't "seek" it. I would compare it to when you were a child, you would consume what was put in front of you.
A lot of people don't bother to think anymore, and instead accept the conclusions of the talking heads without critically analyzing the information. This is just as true on the right as it is on the left.
I was encouraged with the 2004 election. I thought that people had actually come to a rational decision; either we defend/protect ourselves or we will be lambs to the slaughter.
As far as polls are concerned, assuming they can be relied upon (which I doubt), it is further proof that the people in this country are not very capable thinkers if they allow their opinions to be so easily manipulated.
(just for DU lurkers): Were there WMD in Iraq? Probably. Do I care if there wasn't? No. Why? Because I believe that the President believed there was a threat. Because the President took all the information given him (at the time) and based a decision to go into Iraq (post 9/11) on what he thought was best to protect country (you may say in error, perhaps, but in error on the side of caution...MY SIDE). That was his motivation, plain and simple. Do I blame someone for the whole thing? Yes, Saddam Hussein.
So you can count me with the pro-Bush crowd, which is probably why I am never asked.
Dee Dee Meyers, I believe.
Fearless Prediction Time: By Nov 2006, Iraq will be stabilized and the War in Iraq will be regarded by the vast majority of Americans as a stunning success. In the election, the House will stay pretty much stagnant, because the Congressional Districts have been drawn in such a way that you would need dynamite to dislodge any incumbent. In the Senate, I predict a Republican pick-up of 2-3 seats, as the Donks are caught flat-footed opposing a war that has widespread popular support.
Here's my take on the future of the Democratic Party.
The media cheerleaders for the failing Democrats don't like to talk about these things, but here's a few
of the insurmountable problems the Democrats face, as they " prepare to retake power".
*The end of big labor ATM access. This means half the extorted union dues money and half the union thug troops.
The loss of voter fraud through HAVA. Photo IDs = Democratic defeats. Please don't think this is not important. In many places Democrats simply can't win without cheating. If this was the end of the list it would be enough to stop them cold. But of course there is more.
The loss of Louisiana after the coming Katrina response investigation. This won't go away. It won't be good for Louisiana Democrats, nor will it be good for national Democrats. The people who left New Orleans might even want to go back, but to where? The nature of the Democratic party is to be greedy. The Democrats in Texas and other parts of the country that received refugees will register them as new Democratic voters. THERE WILL BE NO DOUBLE VOTING. The first result will be the election of a white Republican mayor in NOLA in February 06.
The loss of Iraq as an issue. Things are getting better by the month. The Democrats are falling right into this trap already. They are showing that they will make this an issue in the next cycle. Let them. The media can't lie enough to cover up the successes in Iraq. The tip off that they know Iraq is going well is Kerry's double speak goal post moving call for withdrawl of 20, 000 troops "if the vote in December goes well". Of course he will call for "the withdrawl of 20,000 troops" if the vote does not go well.
The loss of plantation escapees who are jumping the fence. Blacks are starting to listen to the GOP and liking what they hear. Please don't point to Bush "only getting 11%" last cycle. He got 18% of Black voters in California and similarly healthy numbers all over the country. Had it not been for the large cities where extra Black votes were not needed, the national number would be higher. Improved numbers among minorities is why Bush improved in 47 states comparing 2000 to 2004. The Democrats have now started to make racial attacks on Mike Steele. This will NOT help them keep the plantation gates closed.
The loss of control of the Court. No more force feeding liberalism to America.
The lack of any message. An empty message of " I'm not Bush." doesn't work.
Spokesmen and women like Dean, Moore, Sheehan etc. chase voters away.
Gay "marriage" support. They are even loosing this issue in Oregon. "Oh for eleven" last cycle with no upturn in sight does not help.
The Democrat's anti 2nd amendment positions gave the GOP West Virginia, for good and helped keep Arkansas and Tennessee in the fold.
Shallow bench: Paul Hackett for instance. Demoralized Democrat State organizations means fewer new faces.
The huge ass kicking Bloomberg will/has whipped on Freddie Ferrer, right in the heart of Democratic central will stun national Democrats. The best part of this one will be that as the enablers they are, the media will tell the Democrats some lie to make it "go away" and they will believe it to their eventual disadvantage.
Continued defections. The ratio of Democratic to GOP conversions in the last 10 years must be 10 to 1. This is one of the few areas that they consistently beat Republicans and that's not good for them.
Adoration of Partial Birth Abortion. Most Democrats that you see and hear about are devoted to PBA, something that chases people away. Even Jimmy Carter has enough brain cells left to recognize the dangers for the Democrats in this issue.
For the Sixth time in the last eight months, a national poll has reported that Hillary Clinton is too liberal to be president. The numbers in these surveys DON'T BUDGE. She has been judged too liberal by 38, 39,39,40, 41 and now 45% of respondents who say they would NEVER vote for her.
Zugzwang: “Compulsion to move.”
This is a term in Chess that fits the Democrat's position very well. It is a German term referring to a situation in which a player would like to do nothing (pass), since any move will damage his game, but knows he can't.
The Democrats KNOW they can't "do nothing/say nothing" as issues come up, so they are compelled to comment.
But the reality is that there aren't any issues they can say anything on and not be wrong either with their insane base or with average Americans.
The Democrats will lose either 3, 4 or 5 seats in the Congress next year. There are 2 Democrats in trouble for every Republican in trouble no matter how you look at it. The are 2 to 1 among those who got 55% or less, 53% or less, and all the way down to 50%. There are 2 Democrats who won last cycle with 55% or less and are from Red states than Republicans with similar numbers from Blue states.
Since Senator Bill Frist still holds out hopes of being president, he will serve up a steady diet of poison pill bills for Democratic Senators to vote on. This next cycle won't be fun for the Democrats in the upper chamber either. The GOP will pick up either 2 or 3 net seats there as well.
The dissatisfactions of Bush by the media and the left are of little or no interest to the public. Bush has three years to pursue a conservative agenda. President's approval ratings go up and down.
Democrat approval numbers, on the other hand, are much lower than Bush's and much lower than they have ever been in the party's history.
Unlike Bush Democrats lack the White House as a platform to reform their image.
They continue to do the things under the same leadership that have brought the party into serious decline.
The final blow is that many people view the Democrat party as the party of hate.
That's because Bush has dumbbell Scott McClellen as Press Secretary. I respect his loyalty but Scott is like listening to nails on a chalkboard when he answers press questions.Scott McClellen is not a real dumbbell. He just plays one on TV.
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