Susan Estrich going Nuclear

creators.com ^ | September 1, 2004 | Susan Estrich

[Roscoe Karns]

My Democratic friends are mad as hell, and they aren't going to take it any more.

They are worried, having watched as another August smear campaign, full of lies and half-truths, takes its toll in the polls.

They are frustrated, mostly at the Kerry campaign, for naively believing that just because all the newspapers and news organizations that investigated the charges of the Swift Boat assassins found them to be full of lies and half-truths, they wouldn't take their toll. The word on the street is that Kerry himself was ready to fire back the day the story broke, but that his campaign, believing the charges would blow over if they ignored them, counseled restraint.

But most of all, activists Democrats are angry. As one who lived through an August like this, 16 years ago -- replete with rumors that were lies, which the Bush campaign claimed they had nothing to do with and later admitted they had planted -- I'm angry, too. I've been to this movie. I know how it works. Lies move numbers.

Remember the one about Dukakis suffering from depression after he lost the governorship? (Dukakis not crazy, more at 11.) We lost six points over that lie, planted by George W.'s close friend and colleague in the 1988 campaign, Lee Atwater. Or how about the one about Kitty Dukakis burning a flag at an antiwar demonstration, another out-and-out lie, which the Bush campaign denied having anything to do with, except that it turned out to have come from a United States senator via the Republican National Committee? Lee Atwater later apologized to me for that, too, on his deathbed. Did I mention that Lee's wife is connected to the woman running the Swift Boat campaign?

Never again, we said then.

Not again, Democrats are saying now.

What do you do, Democrats keep asking each other.

The answer is not pretty, but everyone knows what it is.

In 1988, in the days before the so-called independent groups, the candidate called the shots. To Michael Dukakis' credit, depending on how you look at it, he absolutely refused to get into the gutter, even to answer the charges. His theory, like that of some on the Kerry staff, was that answering such charges would only elevate them, give them more attention than they deserved. He thought the American people wanted to hear about issues, not watch a mud-wrestling match. In theory, he was right. In practice, the sad truth is that smears work -- that if you throw enough mud, some of it is bound to stick.

You can't just answer the charges. You can't just say it ain't so.

You have to fight fire with fire, mud with mud, dirt with dirt.

The trouble with Democrats, traditionally, is that we're not mean enough. Dukakis wasn't. I wasn't. I don't particularly like destroying people. I got into politics because of issues, not anger. But too much is at stake to play by Dukakis rules, and lose again.

That is the conclusion Democrats have reached. So watch out. Millions of dollars will be on the table. And there are plenty of choices for what to spend it on.

I'm not promising pretty.

What will it be?

Will it be the three, or is it four or five, drunken driving arrests that Bush and Cheney, the two most powerful men in the world, managed to rack up? (Bush's Texas record has been sealed. Now why would that be? Who seals a perfect driving record?)

After Vietnam, nothing is ancient history, and Cheney is still drinking. What their records suggest is not only a serious problem with alcoholism, which Bush but not Cheney has acknowledged, but also an even more serious problem of judgment. Could Dick Cheney get a license to drive a school bus with his record of drunken driving? (I can see the ad now.) A job at a nuclear power plant? Is any alcoholic ever really cured? So why put him in the most stressful job in the world, with a war going south, a thousand Americans already dead and control of weapons capable of destroying the world at his fingertips.

It has been said that in the worst of times, Kissinger gave orders to the military not to obey Nixon if he ordered a first strike. What if Bush were to fall off the wagon? Then what? Has America really faced the fact that we have an alcoholic as our president?

Or how about Dead Texans for Truth, highlighting those who served in Vietnam instead of the privileged draft-dodging president, and ended up as names on the wall instead of members of the Air National Guard. I'm sure there are some mothers out there who are still mourning their sons, and never made that connection. It wouldn't be so hard to find them.

Or maybe it will be Texas National Guardsmen for Truth, who can explain exactly what George W. Bush was doing while John Kerry was putting his life on the line. So far, all W. can do is come up with dental records to prove that he met his obligations. Perhaps with money on the table, or investigators on their trail, we will learn just what kind of wild and crazy things the president was doing while Kerry was saving a man's life, facing enemy fire and serving his country.

Or could it be George Bush's Former Female Friends for Truth. A forthcoming book by Kitty Kelly raises questions about whether the president has practiced what he preaches on the issue of abortion. As Larry Flynt discovered, a million dollars loosens lips. Are there others to be loosened?

Are you shocked? Not fair? Who said anything about fair? Remember President Dukakis? He was very fair. Now he teaches at Northeastern University. John Kerry has been very fair in dealing with the Swift Boat charges. That's why so many of my Democrat friends have decided to stop talking to the campaign, and start putting money together independently.

The arrogant little Republican boys who have been strutting around New York this week, claiming that they have this one won, would do well to take a step back. It could be a long and ugly road to November.

To find out more about Susan Estrich, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

[Frank_2001]

LOL

[Awestruck]

doncha know that "nazi warmonger" is a compliment!

[golfboy]

Is there anything more fun than watching a liberal implode??? LOL

[comebacknewt]

Susan, bring it on. Your candidate's lost it; why not you, too?

It will be interesting to see how many RATs follow the "nuclear" strategy and decide to go down with the SS Kerry.

It is clearly a desperation move. While there is a chance it will succeed, the more likely result is that the country will become even more sick of the RATs and they will go down in an unprecedented defeat.

[aruanan]

[Democrats] are worried, having watched as another August smear campaign, full of lies and half-truths, takes its toll in the polls.

As opposed to the Democrats' years' long smear campaign full of lies and not even half-truths that is not taking its toll in the polls? Hmmmm, why would their smear campaign not be working and the Republican's "smear" campaign be having an effect? Could it be because there's a strong basis of fact in the latter and not in the former? Could it be because GW Bush is a real man with real committments and real integrity rather than a metrosexual poser who's willing to adjust anything he says, does, and believes and screw anyone any which way he can in order to benefit himself?

[tiki]

Great reply!

[george wythe]

Thank you for the warning Susan. I'm sure that Karl Rove will be in a better position knowing that a Big-Lie smear is coming down the pike.

Similarly, thank you for the ideas. I might start my own 527 here in Florida to showcase Kerry's past performances. I don't even have to hire a fiction writer, since there is enough slime and crud in the past of both Kerry and Edwards.

I will not have to spend $1 million in getting dirt on Kerry-Edwards either. A $100 bill would do.

[eddie willers]

Have been involved in politics for over 40 years as a Republican, so don't tell me the Dims aren't mean.

Me and Zell were Democrats for 40 years.....and we agree with you.

[12.7mm]

there should be rules and regulations on posting pics displaying horrid imagery as bad as those pics

At least we get to see how ugly the enemy is.

Did every one notice how beautiful all the women were at the RNC and just in general. I’ve been noticing that lately since I got my cable back on.

Republican women are babes
democrats women are....well rats

[Psycho_Bunny]

Ugly, fat, angry and stupid is no way to go through life.

[Soul Seeker]

Yikes!! Susan ruined the hard work of Fox's makeup artist.

The trouble with Democrats, traditionally, is that we're not mean enough. Dukakis wasn't. I wasn't.

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

Oh honey, that is priceless. They should give up entertaining hopes for political office and establish their own comedy hour to complete with SNL.

Bring on the Slime. My President has never claimed to be perfect. He was saved by Christ. That conversion turned his life around. You do not understand how powerful the message of his life is to Americans.

[HitmanLV]

I'm terrified. I am sure Karl Rove yawned.

[NittanyLion]

What if Bush were to fall off the wagon? Then what?

Then I'm guessing he'd find Estrich only mildly repugnant.

[Area51]

If this ignorant shill knew anything about politics at all She wouldn't be in Calipornia infecting law students heads with mush the Liberals would have her running campaigns.

Must be her Resume as Campaign Stradegist for Dukakis doesn't carry much weight anymore.


Susan you ignorant !@#$#, YOu need to buy a clue.
Your team already went Nuklear. Problem is they are the only ones that were in the area and are now Radioactive.

[BonnieJ]

Democrats sold-out most of their values to support Clinton. Now their few remaining ones (if there are any) will be thrown away to prop up an even more lying and traitorous loser. This sort of strategy makes no sense at all.

[GiveEmDubya]

The Democrats are losing it. The GOP schooled them big time this week and they know it. Kerry "jumped the shark" last night at his rally, and Estrich goes nuclear today with some strong statements that make Zell Miller look like Mr. Rogers--certainly with more to follow. Desperation will beget more desperation too.

[Puppage]

the charges of the Swift Boat assassins found them to be full of lies and half-truths

Yeah? Point them out then.

[iopscusa]

There may be a war. Well bring it on, the 2nd ammendment rings true for southern Americans.

[Southack]

"You have to fight fire with fire, mud with mud, dirt with dirt. ... I don't particularly like destroying people. I got into politics because of issues, not anger. But too much is at stake to play by Dukakis rules, and lose again. That is the conclusion Democrats have reached. So watch out. Millions of dollars will be on the table. And there are plenty of choices for what to spend it on. I'm not promising pretty."

Heh, heh, hehhhh.

"Step into my web," said the GOP spider to the DNC.

...

I've been saying all along two very important things: first, that the Democrats can *only* go negative because they have no "new ideas" with which to give them an alternative, positive campaign option. Without new ideas of their own (e.g. tax cuts, spreading liberty, privatizing social security, faith based charities, etc.), they have no choice but to go negative.

Second, we've been prepared for the Dems to go negative from Day One. After all, we knew that was their only option.

...And our *plan* for 2004 has always been to not only win, but also to smear the liberal news media and burn the fatcat DNC donors in the process.

To do that, we've got to get them mad enough to make mistakes with their money, their strategy, and with words that they'll soon regret.

I'm not completely certain that they are that mad, but Susan is getting there. And hey, we've got a couple of months still!

5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[clamper1797]

Fox would be FAR better off without Susan Excrement and Alan Communist