Posted on 05/25/2002 7:33:40 AM PDT by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
A week's worth 9-11 smear-mongering by leading Democrats and their media handmaidens has failed to dent President Bush's popularity, according to the latest CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.
More than three-quarters of those surveyed gave Bush a positive job approval rating, despite an onslaught of politically motivated accusations that administration officials failed to connect the dots on intelligence data that could have forewarned of the 9-11 attacks.
Sixty percent of those surveyed said the information available before the attacks would not have been enough for administration officials to have predicted what was coming.
Nineteen percent said the Bush administration made "an understandable mistake."
Only 23 percent agreed that Bush officials made "a serious error" in not reading the tea leaves foreshadowing the attacks.
Leading Democrats began their full-scale assault last Thursday, with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton demanding, "What did the president know?" in advance of Sept. 11.
And while some, like House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, have softened their earlier rhetoric, on Friday Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Lieberman was still invoking Watergate-like phraseology to suggest a 9-11 scandal.
"I don't think the question is the old White House question about what did he know and when did he know it?" Lieberman told radioman Don Imus. "The really more important question, as we look back, is what was he told and when was he told it?"
The CNN-USA Today-Gallup survey polled 1,000 adults between May 20-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Hey Southack - you have been calling the 2002 elections since last year.
The political/national/worldwide situation this October will determine the winners.
Dick Morris
Age: 50 something
Current Gig: Campaign Strategist, Political Advisor, Pundit
Previous Gig:: Advisor To Bill Clinton and Trent Lott.
Swings: Shamelessly From the Right and Left.
Motive: Looking to regain some modicum of respect.
Vital Statistics: The renowned campaign strategist who helped Clinton win back the Governor's office in Arkansas and helped him win the '96 election by advising him to co-opt the oppositions issues. Dick never made it to the Inaugural Ball though. On the same night Clinton was to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, Dick made headlines for his adulterous relationship with a $200 an hour hooker. As the story was told he shared privileged information he shared with her and let her listen on the extension when he spoke with the president. Early in the Lewinsky scandal, The LA Times reported he was back in the Clinton's employ.
For Him
Who better to call for advice in a sex scandal then the consultant who shared secrets of state with a low budget hooker? Of course, he was never actually out of the political picture, working behind the scenes with his other powerful client, Trent Lott, the Senate Majority Leader to help forge the balanced budget agreement of 1997.
Against Him
In a radio interview on KABC radio, early in the crisis, Morris offered his own theory as to what might have been the root cause of all of this. In a nutshell, he suggested that previous rumors about Hillary's sexual preferences running more towards Ellen Degeneris than her degenerate husband could be true and that perhaps there is an understanding between Bill and Hil and therefore Bill gets his jollies thorough other sources, including fantasies and phone sex. Thanks for the help, Dick.
What are his current moment scummy dealings, who is he playing Hitler for now.
THE GREATEST GAINS THE LEFT HAS EVER MADE WAS WHEN THE STRATEGIES YOU RECOMMEND WERE ADOPTED AND FOLLOWED BY THE RIGHT.
The left has only been able to make huge advances when the right (the old guard) is in control of the Republican party. The only time the left wins big gains is when your guys are running the opposition to the Democrats. The only time the left has ever lost is when your heros were not running the Republican party.
The Republican party has twice adopted your methods of standing totally firm for what it believes. It stood tall with no compromises from 1932 until 1952. It demanded that government shrink and no new programs be adopted. That strategy totally backfired. It was during that time that FDR's huge Socialist programs were adopted. The people who ran the Republican party during that time never won a battle and only suffered defeat. Did you ever notice that when the far right is in control of the Ruplican party all they do is suffer defeats? Did you ever notice that when the Republican moderates are in control even the Democrats do conservative things? Nah... I didn't think so.
From 1952 until 1964 the moderates contolled the Republican party. JFK was in charge of the Democrats in 1960 and lowered taxes and did not grow government. JFK was so economically to the right that Reagan copied his programs and renamed them Reaganomics. Hmmm Moderate Republicans in control of the party. Democrat in control of Democrat party does conservative things.... Happened once! Could never happen again. It violates your beliefs.
Then in 1964 the right tried standing firm with no compromises. This time they put Barry Goldwater at the helm of his right wing Titanic. Barry Goldwater did not end welfare as we knew it. He was in the Senate when it passed and was helpless to keep it from passing. He did not even have enough votes to fillibuster. His failed campaign for President gave LBJ the votes he needed. Back then LBJ had to have 67 votes in the senate to get the Great Society passed. The Goldwater failure gave those 67 Democratic votes to LBJ. LBJ could not have enacted THE GREAT SOCIETY without Barry Goldwater's extreme opposition. It gave LBJ the 67 votes he needed in the Senate to get the GREAT SOCIETY done. Do you know who told me that? Lyndon Baines Johnson... that's who.
Barry Goldwater could not stop the Great Society using your strategy, but Bob Dole and Trent Lott stopped Clinton's Socialized Medicine dead in its tracks using mine. The only time a big governemnt program has ever been rolled back, was when the moderate Republicans were in control. They put Clinton in the position where he had to support ending welfare as we knew it. It was the likes of LOTT and DOLE that got those things accomplished. Moderate Republicans in control, Democrats adopt conservative agenda.... Hmmmmm. In 1960 and the 1990's the moderate strategy prevailed to roll back some of the lefts advances. It to some extent accomplished our shared goals. Your strategy has always failed. Mine has worked sometimes. But we all know it is better to employ a strategy that always fails rather than one the sometimes wins. Beliefs are important ... not results.
But evidence of what works and what doesn't has never yet influenced the far left or the far right. Pointing it out is a total waste of time.
People who hold your views are exaclty like the left. The Socialists honestly believe that Socialism and total government control will make a better society for all the people. Evidence is never important. Beliefs are the only important things to both the far left and the far right.
The fact that there actions have the an opposite effect than intended does not deter either side. The arguments for Socialism sound so good to the left. The only problem is it fails to do what its boosters say it will do.
That is exaclty the same problem the right has. Your strategy for fighting socialism has never been successful. It has in fact been a total failure. It gives socialists the huge victories they need to grealy increae the government's roll in our lives. But the fact that it has the opposite effect to what you are trying to accomplish never deters you. For the far left and right beliefs are important not results.
Both the far left and the far right have the same disease. Neither can accept the results of what they advocate. The left thinks that if it just does Socialism right, it will work just fine. It has always failed because they did not do it right. Next time they will do it right.
The right thinks that they failed to defeat the left because they did not attack hard enough. The next time they will defeat Socialism if they just attack a lot harder. The fact that harder attacks produce bigger defeats never ever gets noted.
One thing that is really appreicated by men like Bush, Lott, and Dole when they are at work trying to turn Socialism back. They can always count on the far right being there with a sharp knife to stab them in the back. It may surprise you to know that the knife almost always convinces the moderates that they should not even try to roll the left back. That never occurs to the far right. It occurs to the left. They stand behind their people... just ask Bill Clinton.
A great many of the pro politicians are just like pro baseball players. They play to win. And they play to win for the team that picks up their contract. Morris is a player. You are a fan. Fans and players are different.
Morris has had two jobs. In the first he consults candidates and office holders. He is very very good at that. In his second job he is a commentator. His job is to garner audience and gain readers. It makes no sense to try to judge his job as political consultant based on his performance in his job of garnering audience.
It is like judging a stock car racer by his other job as a baker. You would ask how can this guy win a 20 lap race? Have you tasted his upside down cake? It has way too little icing. Morris's political job has nothing to do with the media job.
Morris's job as a political consutant was to get people elected. His clients have included Jesse Helms, Trent Lott and Bill Clinton. His track record is very good. HIS CANDIDATES almost always WIN.
His job as a commentator is to gain recognition and get people to read what he writes and listen to what he says. His media job is to attract attention and comment. You are proof that Morris is good at that too.
You should listen to bugs bunny. Even Bugs asks "What's up Doc?" Ypu don't know if Morris is anti Clinton. He plays an anti clinton on TV. He may or may not be anti Hillary or anti bill Clinton. All we know is he plays one on TV.
Get a friggin Clue.
If Hillary runs for president and offers Morris the consultants job on her Campaign he would take it in a heart beat.
Can you imagine a Republican doctor refusing to treat a sick Democrat? A doctor works on humans. The human may be Democrats or a Republicans. The doctor doesn't care as long as they pay his fee.
Morris is an election doctor. He works on elections not bodies. And it doesn't make a bit of differnce about the party his client belongs too. Politics is not a moral crusade. It is a friggin job.. like making cars or building houses. It is what people do for a living. The crusades went out a thouand years ago.
You havn't a clue about Morris's political views. You can't tell a doctors politics by the polictics of the people he operates on. You can't tell Morris's politics by the candidates' campaigns he works on.
YOu need to get a clue about morals too.
"...the far right" - uh, yeah now that you mention I am reminded of the horrible political slaughters the GOP suffered under that right wing extremist and heir to Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan. And, yes, now that you mention it I believe I do recall the wonderful comeback to political prosperity engineered by President Bush's rejection of Reagan's most important economic policy. And yeah, it's quite true that even southern Democrats vehemently opposed the tax cuts of the early eighties. Thanks for the history lesson.
Oh puke!. Ronald Reagan was the antidote to Barry Goldwater NOT his heir. Goldwater never held a conservative thought in his head if it had to do with anything other than, Communists. He turned out to be a flaming liberal and virulent anti-religious right, abortion supporting nut case in his dotage.
SHEEESH, C.T., what a selective memory you have. Reagan was not the Milquetoast Moderate that you seem to revere and the GOP accomplished a good deal (i.e. Income Tax Rate reduction from 70% to 28%, winning the Cold War, decreasing the Power of the Unions, etc.) until the middle-of-the-roaders diluted the message and cut the Conservatives down at the knees. Your seeming willingness to accept Power as a an end-all instead of a means to an end in self-defeating when the compromises required to attain that Power include the enactment of the opposition's agenda. Fact is, the Federal Government has grown TOO BIG, TOO COSTLY, TOO POWERFUL, and TOO UNACCOUNTABLE, and any so-called "compromises" that further the Agenda of those favoring an omnipotent Central Bureaucracy do increasing damage to America by moving it further from the Constitutional basis that allowed us to become such a great Nation in such a short period of time!! It's really not just about DemonRAT vs. Republican and Left vs. Right...the ultimate battle is about Right vs. Wrong, and the Collectivist Solutions favored by the DemonRAT Left (and too many spineless GOPers) have been proven to be Wrong wherever and whenever they have been implemented.
"Did you ever notice that when the far right is in control of the Republican party all they do is suffer defeats?"
Once again, nice selective memory...your so-called "Far Right" was in control of the Party in 1980 when Reagan beat back the Moderate wing supporting your apparent hero, Jerry Ford, and the result was GOP winning big in '80 and '84 and '88, before the Milquetoast Moderates destroyed the Reagan Revolution. Then, in '94, the Gingrich-led "Far Right" ran on a historic right-leaning platform and took over Congress against all odds, before the Moderate wing started gravitating back to the RAT Agenda, once again stalling any true progress. In '00, we finally took over both the Legislative and Executive Branches until--once again--your Moderate hero Jumpin' Jim Jeffords torpedoed the GOP again. The GOP wins when it stands on Principle, not when it attempts to be the "Me-too" Party for Big Guv'ment Expansionism.
"In 1960 and the 1990's the moderate strategy prevailed to roll back some of the lefts advances. It to some extent accomplished our shared goals. Your strategy has always failed. Mine has worked sometimes."
"Your" strategy always has the GOP on the defensive, attempting to minimize the extent of the growth of the Federal Leviathan, but "my" strategy most certainly worked in 1980--and I would argue '94 despite your claim that the Contract with America was a Moderate win--because the GOP set out a Conservative agenda that differentiated it from the RAT Party, then defended it shamelessly because we KNEW we were Right!! Doing so again would produce similar results, IMHO.
"People who hold your views are exaclty like the left. The Socialists honestly believe that Socialism and total government control will make a better society for all the people. Evidence is never important. Beliefs are the only important things to both the far left and the far right."
That is where you are totally wrong, Mr. Tator, the Left and Right are diametric opposites because there is solid evidence now that Collectivism ALWAYS fails when contrasted with decentralized decison-making...ALWAYS!! The evidence is there and it is our charge to make that case to the Sheeple and win a mandate on the Principle of Less Central Bureaucracy and More Liberty and FReedom. Attempting to marginalize me and the so-called "Far Right" will get the GOP Moderates nowhere but back in the Minority.
"The arguments for Socialism sound so good to the left. The only problem is it fails to do what its boosters say it will do."
Here we agree.
"That is exaclty the same problem the right has. Your strategy for fighting socialism has never been successful."
It appears your strategy for fighting socialism is to not fight it at all, but just enact it at a slower pace and call it "Victory!!"
"The right thinks that they failed to defeat the left because they did not attack hard enough. The next time they will defeat Socialism if they just attack a lot harder."
America defeated Socialism in the Cold War because we had the courage to "attack a lot harder" and we need to Demolish the Left in this Country with the same passion that we attacked the Soviets. Just as Reagan was Right in naming the Soviet Union the Evil Empire, now we must acknowledge that the Left in this country is most certainly EVIL!! It is evil to trap inner city youths in non-performing public schools...it is evil to slaughter 80+ Christians at Waco and hold no one to blame...it is evil to slaughter over 40 Million unborn children...it is evil to centralize power in DeeCee when said Collectivism has been shown to decrease the Quality of Life of everyone but the select few who give themselves the Power!! The Far Right and the Far Left are not even close to being similar, sir!!
"One thing that is really appreicated by men like Bush, Lott, and Dole when they are at work trying to turn Socialism back. They can always count on the far right being there with a sharp knife to stab them in the back."
I am increasingly convinced that folks like Lott and Dole and Bush I have no desire to turn Socialism in America back as it has made them quite wealthy and powerful men. I thought Bush II might just be different and still hold out some hope that he may indeed be. But don't even try to blame the Principled Right with back-stabbing when it is our passion that allowed the GOP to come to power only to be short-changed again and again as the GOP moved America slowly to the Left while complaining that they just couldn't help themselves.
The Principled Right is not the problem, my FRiend, the problem lies with those Milquetoast Moderates who have no Principles to defend.
FReegards...MUD
"Far Right" bump!
Your NY Pal,
Karen
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