When Is Karl Rove Going to Open the Ball on These Guys?

[VANHALEN2002]

When is the President going to start taking the fight to the Democrats? They have had months of carping at him but we haven't heard a peep from Karl Rove and his crew. Is this a calculated move? What issues will they be able to use against Kerry or Clark. Do they negate the presidents clout on defense because they were both in the military? How will they leverage this against the President in a general election?

[stylin_geek]

More rope, baby. Plus, a specific target has yet to be defined when it comes to Democratic Presidential candidates.

[Dan from Michigan]

Rove will probably just let the dems battle it out for now since he doesn't know who the nominee will be yet.

[GraniteStateConservative]

We'll be silent until March at the earliest. Bush will replay his SOTU speech this week, though in various places.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Dick Morris puts it best when he says that you don't use your "bug spray" before the convention. Otherwise, you will kill those who are vulnerable to the spray, and you end up running against the one who is immune to your spray.

[So Cal Rocket]

Rove will have Bush run a positive campaign, similar to the "It's Morning Again in America" theme that Reagan ran on for his second term.

The Dems will fling mud at each other. No need to get your hands dirty at this point.

[Catspaw]

You mean that President Bush and Rove are standing aside while the Dems tear each other apart? Shocking.

[Keith]

never get in the way when your opponent is self-destructing.

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

Politics Rule #1: When the other party is engaged in infighting and internal strife, you get very small and very quiet until they finish destroying each other and try to reunify. Then you strike. Any other tactic is d-u-m-b.

[SGCOS]

...don't use your "bug spray" before the convention. Otherwise, you will kill those who are vulnerable to the spray, and you end up running against the one who is immune to your spray.

Ahh, kinda like flatulence in a general direction.

[jnarcus]

Karl Rove is a thorn in the side of conservatives. His pandering on drug benefits and immigration may yet cost this president reelection. The man has a tin ear...he ain't no Lee Atwater

[The Iguana]

If Kerry and Edwards - more formidable candidates - start gaining traction, then I think you will see Rove start to open fire.

If it's Dean, there's no hurry. He's combustible all by himself.

[Steven W.]

Kerry

Aside from the patent phoniness & Massachusettes liberalism, that he looks like Lurch from the Adams Family on a good day and downright scary when he has 5:00 shadow?

Clark

That the Clinton crowd didn't even think he had an adequate level of integrity and were forced to fire him? That he has more positions on any one day than a token Harlem h00ker?

[GulliverSwift]

Except Steve Moore and his Club for Growth are so self-aggrandizing that they just couldn't wait to go after Dean.

[VANHALEN2002]

Thanks for the reply. It just pisses me off that they don't take the gloves off and go after them but I guess you guys are right. Don't destry someone when they are willing to do it for you. Good Strategery.

[Moonman62]

With the extra hundreds of billions Karl and GWB are using to buy votes, why would they want to get into a fight?

[truthandlife]

What do you expect from Rove when he proposed free prescription drugs for seniors and the Mexican amnesty plan.

Everyone thinks he is brilliant when I am not so sure.

[Momaw Nadon]

Wouldn't it be better to hit the campaign trail earlier?

The Dem candidates are trashing President Bush at every available opportunity.

Should President Bush allow all of these attacks go unanswered?

The Demowits are unnervingly motivated this year.

Perhaps it would be better to go into campaign mode sooner rather than later.

[elfman2]

"Dick Morris puts it best when he says that you don't use your "bug spray" before the convention. Otherwise, you will kill those who are vulnerable to the spray, and you end up running against the one who is immune to your spray."

I heard that. It was a good analogy. Bush can’t spray 2-3 varieties of attack on upcoming opponents and still present a presidential unifier image. Edwards, Dean, Clark, Clinton, Kerry all have very different weaknesses. If he were to attack now, he’d have to attack on inexperience (Edwards) , instability (Dean), character (Clark), corruption (Clinton), and establishment liberalism (Kerry). He’d come off as divisive, aggressive, desperate etc… Better to look presidential and then pick just one to cut the knees out from under this opposition when the opposition is identified.