The GOP desperately needed coherent and organized talking points throughout the last year, and were nearly left defenseless as the bar was defined and raised by the weasel left - delivery of stockpiles of Iraqi WMD, or else.
Now, either the GOP is performing (still) the rope-a-dope of the century and are sitting on WMD stockpiles or equivalent, or more likely they were left with their pants around their ankles and mouths open. And so were we in their defense. The Bush administration completely lost control of the issue in the public domain.
Of course, there were innumerable reasons to take out Saddam irrespective of WMD, but I wonder did this administration get setup?
And how did they permit the 'discovery of WMD stockpiles' to be allowed to judge all measurement of success in Iraq in the first place? And why didn't they change the premise quickly?
The repair of this public relations disaster is going to be slow and ugly, even with a Bush mandate in November.
I still don't believe they've seized control of the issue, particularly on the world stage.
Here's a thought I haven't seen posted yet:
Hillary, 2008. (Sorry, I know it is dinner time for some of you out East...).
If we allow that there will be no last minute bait-and-switch candidacy for Hillary this time, or some other October surprise, then Kerry/Edwards loss puts Hillary on the books as the clear leading 'Rat candidate for '08.
So, what do you imagine will be the strategy to oust the GOP then?
Here's my prediction:
Hillary leads an Iran-Contra style smear attack on the Bush administration in the waning years to weaken the nation's GOP appeal leading into '08. Expect an attempt at an impeachment-equivalent scandal to dominate the headlines.
You heard it here, maybe first...
What to do? How do we prevent it?
Really, the ONLY thing that will help is for mainstream media to continue to be diminished, possibly with our help, in the intervening years.
But the 'Rats, on the other hand, will try to reign in the bloggers and bulletin boards, including Free Republic, to once again regain control of the news Pravda-like.
So we might also look for the 'Rats to seize upon or create a Columbine-style national Internet scandal to falsely trumpet and increase the public's desire for control of this forum. We must be ready well in advance!
Comments?