Analysis: 'Shock and awe' for Democrats (MUST READ!!)

UPI Chief White House Correspondent ^ | 5/2/2003 | Nicholas M. Horrock

[Jewels1091]

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- For the nine Democratic presidential candidates, watching President George W. Bush fly onto the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in his jet pilot suit, and hugging all those certified war heroes, must have been like the Iraqi command when the bombs of "shock and awe" began to redraw the map of downtown Baghdad.

There before them is what they face next year: a 56-year-old man, tanned and fit, able to take a hard carrier hook landing without using the barf bag; in the words of one of the pilots, a "stud;" declaring victory on the decks of a sunlit aircraft carrier at sea with thousands of young American servicemen roaring their applause.

Ronald Reagan's Hollywood team could not have done better. This is a war president! He has defeated the Taliban, removed Saddam Hussein, bluffed back the Russians, Chinese and French and now warns the world that if you challenge the United States, one of these giant carriers with more warplanes than most countries can dream of will roll up next to your border and change your regime.

This is a sitting president who is going to challenge everything the tentative, politically correct 1990s stood for. He is running on a return of the America to the 1950s, the glory days: big cars, cheap gas, a powerful military whose generals are proconsuls from Baghdad to Kabul, and family values.

Even though he sat out Vietnam flying in the Texas Air National Guard, he has marshaled the giant constituency of the U.S. military, tapping the patriotism that burned after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and catering to the conservative values of the regular forces.

His campaign, like a fast-moving armored column in the desert, will be a hard target to hit. To attack his war is to attack the young men and women who fought the war and won it. The cheers on the deck of the Abe Lincoln were genuine and the Democrats who watched it know that.

Even if no weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq or real connections to al-Qaida established, the hated Saddam regime is gone and there are enough welcoming and happy people in Iraq to certify this little war. Bush Thursday was careful not to link the war to the first Gulf War, the one so many people think his father didn't finish. He linked it to the war on terror. This allows him to roll forward like that armored column, glossing over the future of Iraq, glossing over all the tangled issues of whether it can be governed or even reconstructed.

By declaring Iraq but a battle in the war on terror that is still under way, Bush neutralizes a Democratic complaint that his wars are no guarantor of safety from terrorist attack. The war, he says endlessly, could be endless, and an endless war faces no accounting. It is always a work in progress.

Presidents always have the advantage of an incumbent, but nothing matches the U.S. armed forces for drama and color. The nine Democrats conduct their first debate Saturday evening at 9 p.m. EDT in South Carolina. They were unable to persuade any national channel to carry the debate live, and ABC finally agreed to tape it. The first national TV broadcast of it will air at 1:30 a.m.

Bush was able to produce the sound stage of a giant carrier and its 5,000 young Americans as a backdrop for what perhaps was his first campaign speech. Millions of people worldwide watched him land on the carrier deck.

It is a theme Americans will see again and again in the next months. This is the president of the war on terror. The Republican Party will hold its convention in New York in early September, literally a stone's throw from Ground Zero. The heroes of that day, the police and firemen, will be there. The heroes of the war in Afghanistan will be there and the heroes of the Battle of Iraq.

Though politics in a republic is an uncertain practice, right now, George W. Bush must look very formidable.

[martin_fierro]

Bush Thursday was careful not to link the war to the first Gulf War, the one so many people columnists think his father didn't finish.

[Publicus]

To which I say:

1. He could have gone by helicopter.

-So?


2. The carrier was in sight of shore but was manouvered to get sea horizon in the pics

-So?


3. The carrier was diverted from its planned course to allow the jet landing

-Carriers ALWAYS postion to minimize cross wind.


4. The carrier went to an area of sea that was calm so bush didn't get sea sick landing

-The weather WAS calm in the vicinity. Besides, W is in great shape for ANY age AND has flown fighter jets himself. Who's to say he would've gotten sick and SO WHAT?

[Reactionary]

"...just like hundreds of federal social programs. He's learned from the Democrat playbook! If you want to sustain an issue, never solve it - only posture as if you care more about solving it than your opponents."

God bless that fat little man, Karl Rove. :)

[Publicus]

WELL PUT!

[Brad’s Gramma]

BTTT for tomorrow.

[Publicus]

Stock market will improve when people's trust in the people involved is restored.

The people's trust in the people involved will be restored ONLY when:

-The crooked execs, accountants, and lawyers are held accountable for betraying our trust, stealing our money, defrauding our government, and destroying the livelihoods and retirements of millions of productive, law-abiding Americans AND the funds they embezzled are seized and returned in some measure to investors, employees, vendors, lenders, and creditors.

The stock market will rocket past 10,000 points in less than three months when:

1. We stop taxing corporations;

2. We stop taxing capital gains;

3. We stop taxing dividends.

If we do these simple things, watch what happens- It will be glorious.

[lorrainer]

Bump!

[Publicus]

If Clintoon or Gore were in the White House, I do not believe we would have engaged the enemy at all- besides of course lobbing cruise missiles into evacuated areas.

Or- gulp- imagine Somalia several TIMES over?

These are the legacies of Clinton/Gore- no leadership, no moral compass, no regard for Americans- ONLY the pursuit of their personal ambitions at EVERYONE's elses expense- JUST LIKE THE DASSHOLE, AND ALL THE DEMONRATS WHO COVET AND SCHEME TO TAKE OVER OUR WHITE HOUSE.

[Z-28]

I have never been more proud of my country or our president.

President Bush demonstrated the truely remarkable man that he is again yesterday.

He is destined for true greatness among already great men.

As San Diego natives, we are following all the activities as the entire city turns out to greet the USS Abraham Lincoln and the returning air wings.

God bless America.

[Z-28]

I imagine a US Navy S-3B is pretty mild flying compared to what Bush used to fly, F-102 Delta Dart supersonic interceptors.

[Jim Noble]

Focus on the Senate.

The Senate is at least as important as the Presidential race, maybe more so. We can get +8 if we do things right, +5 if we don't.

+10 is possible with a GWB landslide and if we win Illinois.

Visualize 61 GOP Senators.

[dawn53]

Darn, I wanted to watch it! Thought it would be a nice prelude to SNL, two comedy shows in one evening.

Oh well, maybe it'll be on C-span.

[Miss Marple]

Having listened to the coverage all day, I can answer every one of these Rat talking points.

1. He could have gone by helicopter.

No, he couldn't. The carrier was too far out to sea for a helicopter.

2. The carrier was in sight of shore but was manouvered to get sea horizon in the pics.

This is untrue. It took 20 minutes for the planes, flying at 200 miles/hour, to get to the ship. In addition, you don't "maneuver" an aircraft carrier in a small turn to hide the horizon.

3. The carrier was diverted from its planned course to allow the jet landing.

This is also untrue. The carrier stayed on course.

4. The carrier went to an area of sea that was calm so bush didn't get sea sick landing. The danger in the landing isn't seasickness, but airsickness. Many people who go through these landings get airsick. In addition, millions of would-be sea travelers would like this person to point out the area of the Pacific that is calm enough to not induce seasickness. This is a really pathetic attack.

[lainde]

LOL!!!!!

[leprechaun9]

2. The carrier was in sight of shore but was manouvered to get sea horizon in the pics.

An aircraft carrier is usually turned into the wind to create sufficient conditions for take offs & landings. (the wind speed + the ship speed)

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I think Rush said the debate is going to air on CSPAN at 5:00 AM ET Sunday.

The debate was offered to ABC radio at 11:30 PM ET but many stations are saying no thanks, they could get better ratings with their normal program "Coast to Coast AM". They guess why it isn't being offered live is so the debate can be edited.

[GraniteStateConservative]

We'll have 5% GDP growth next year, but we need about 4% and 5% unemployment next year for an easy re-election. Also, look at the Expectations Index in consumer confidence. After 4 straight monthly declines, it popped up in April. People will support Bush if they think we are heading in the right direction. We don't need immediate results, just the sense that Bush is steering us well. I believe that this index will continue to go up unabated. We're nowhere near where we were last April (the peak in the last 12 months)-- so there is a lot of upside.

[bert]

Great photo.....

I think an effort should be mounted to provide all the rats in the congress with a 36" strip of yellow caution tape. The tape is to be stapled to their suit collars whenever they appear in public.

[Future Snake Eater]

Are you sure about that? I heard several times that Bush's plane hit the #4 wire, which is the first wire on the deck, not the last.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

You are correct. It was the first wire. According to FOX News, one of the original reporters was in error when he said it was the last wire. The rest of the media picked that up as the story, without checking the facts.