Republican hopes of regaining initiative fall flat

[Judi Lynn]

Republican hopes of regaining initiative fall flat
By Holly Yeager in Washington
Published: February 3 2006 23:08 | Last updated: February 4 2006 00:21

Republicans had wanted to make this their turnaround week.


George W. Bush’s State of the Union address was a chance for the White House to set out a fresh vision – improving the president’s public standing and laying the groundwork for the party’s 2006 midterm election campaigns in the process, they hoped.

Congressional leaders thought a quick move on lobbying reform and the election of a new majority leader in the House of Representatives to replace the embattled Tom DeLay would help contain the damage of recent scandals.

“The Republicans know that they have issues and the status quo isn’t good enough come November,” said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. “There is a desire to change now, before voters make the change for them.”

But with Democrats consistently outscoring Republicans in opinion polls and growing evidence that voters are fed up with everyone in Washington, Republicans fear they may need to do far more if they are to hold on to their majority.
(snip/...)

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9e03137c-9508-11da-9f39-0000779e2340.html

[leftchick]

1. so tell my Judi?

How good did it feel posting this and with that headline? Hot damn!
It is about time!

:bounce:

[Judi Lynn]

4. I could cackle like a Republican!

If they lose any of their Diebold machines, and _Bush can't stage a bogus terror attack, declare martial law, and seize the government permanently, they may be screwed!

[wryter2000]

8. Lord

Jesus on a trailer hitch, I'd like to see that smile wiped off her awful face. It's hard to pick the lowest of the low of all of their spin, but those purple heart bandaids have to be in everyone's Top 10.

[bleever]

36. I second that.

:thumbsup:

[calimary]

12. Why, Beelzebub! Nice of you to drop by again!

Hot enough for ya?

PS - LOVE the band-aid.

[William769]

2. I fear what this might be.

"Republicans fear they may need to do far more if they are to hold on to their majority."


:scared:

[calimary]

10. Yeah, but remember this in there, also:

From the article:

(snip)
For the mood to improve, the country needs about six months without a natural disaster or a worsening situation in Iraq, he added. Mr Rath is optimistic about November. “This is not a time that people need to make decisions,” he said. “They need to send messages.”



That's an AWFULLY big gamble. Hurricane season is just a few months away, for one thing. For another, "a worsening situation in Iraq" is an absolute guarantee - things get worse there BY THE MINUTE.

If they're concentrating on sending "messages," well, they better guess again. Their esteemed boss-man, bush, just tried that one with his State of the Union and this entire article is about nothing less than how that message fell ridiculously flat.

Yeah, "send messages" MY ASS. They've already sent messages. They've left us with only one to send, for ourselves - "SOS!"

[Demeter]

20. Don't Forget the Bustling US Economy

If that doesn't send you into a 6 month depression, only a Depression will!

[Wordie]

29. Here's a message!

(and it's just in time for November!)

Rubberstamp Republicans!

...they never met a Bush tax cut, or Bush military spending bill, or immoral Bush war, or Bush effort to spy on Americans, or a chance for Bush to screw the poor, that they didn't like.

[Luke21]

3. Fat and happy

This is 1994. The Republicans are getting their way on many things and don't hear the rumbling under their feet. Any party that stops doing the people's work and cannibalizes their own can expect no less.

"Change" and "throw the bums out" will be the mantra of this election. The GOP has gotten too cuddly with K Street lobbyists and are just plain out of touch.

[wryter2000]

7. Welcome to DU

:hi: And thanks for your insightful post!

[DoYouEverWonder]

41. Hate to say this

but there are also a few so called DEMS some of us would like to throw out too.

Heck throw them all out and let just start over.

[NanceGreggs]

5. You betcha!

“There is a desire to change now, before voters make the change for them.”

[Inland]

6. Time for fake "reforms" to go along with the tax cuts and

stifling attempts at oversight.

[remfan]

9. Funny thing is the answer is staring them in the face

and yet they'll never consider actually doing it.

They could probably keep their majority if they began impeachment proceedings against bush and Cheney.

[Nite Owl]

16. That's exactly it

People may not know everything that is going on but they surmise one thing: one party control isn't doing anything for them. Someone has got to go and the congress is up first. It comes down to the repukes in congress vs the White House.

[WhiteTara]

21. except that they are all joined

at the wallet. They are a house of cards, and they all fall together when the right string is pulled. Go Fitz Go Ronnie Earle Go Enron Prosecutors

[Orsino]

11. They still have the initiative.

They control both houses of Congress, and can write or choose all the legislation that goes to vote.

[tanyev]

13. Congressional leaders thought a small band-aid on a

hemorrhaging artery would contain the damage and were mystified when it didn't work.

[calimary]

15. Oh, but they did draw that cute little purple heart on it.

A sure-fire winner, that one.

[buddysmellgood]

14. Better make those tax cuts permanent and cancel Head Start. Add fat people

left handers and people who stutter to the list of those to be denied basic rights. Also, expand the spying program to include mandatory colonoscopy.

[ellenfl]

18. crap! i'm fat AND left-handed! eom

[jazzjunkysue]

44. d d d d d d do yyyyyyou ththththtthtink it could really happen?

Apologies to the studderers among us....

[suston96]

17. So what?

While we have all been occupied with the Alitocapades, and Abramoff and the other diversions, they have been quietly picking the congressional districts they want to control in 2006 with recalibrators and their own ballot counters.

That is the only initiative they need. And we all still don't get it.

[leQ]

19. damn, where is osama when ya need him. (eom)

[CatWoman]

22. he's over in the Coretta Scott King thread

:D

[Mechatanketra]

23. Republicans have little to worry about.

For there to be a sea change in Washington, there needs to be a sea change against Washington. I don't foresee the Democrats making a credible platform this campaign season that they, across the board, constitute that change.

It works a little something like this:
You can't effectively exploit anti-GOP sentiments if you're not willing to display them.
You can't effectively oppose the GOP platform without stating clearly that it's wrong.
You can't say the GOP is wrong without admitting that traditional GOP voters were wrong.
But it's Recieved Wisdom that American voters will wreak vengeance on anyone who disparages them.
So you mustn't even imply that any of this mess is the voters' fault.
Which means you can't attack the misconceptions and prejudices that make them vote GOP.
Which means that you basically can't say the GOP is wrong.
Which means you can't actually oppose the GOP.

:wtf:

Hence, the modern Democratic national platform: vote for me! I have nice hair.

But hey, I'm obviously just a embittered naif from the extreme fringe who doesn't understand how we have to nuance 'the game'. Just like I didn't appreciate how we had to ignore 'red meat' temptation to make sure the GOP couldn't pack the Supreme Court. :grr:

[chicofaraby]

26. Excellent Post!

The Democrats are trying to run to the center YET AGAIN. Why do they ignore the millions and millions of voters who don't vote because the choice is between the extreme right wing and the right wing? The Dems can turn left or fail again. Those are their choices.

I know I won't vote for anyone who voted for this fake war or the Hatriot Act.

[Mechatanketra]

30. Two reasons, I think.

One is because there's no way to prove that the ~50% of the populace that doesn't vote is specifically disillusioned with their choices, rather than being generally apathetic — and if you assume the latter, your political planning's a lot simpler. However, this leads to the conclusion that you can only win by wresting votes from the GOP (instead of picking up votes currently unclaimed by either party), which puts you in the trap I outlined above: getting a voter to correct their own mistake without suggesting that they've been making mistakes.

As for the second reason ... well, to begin with, I don't really like the term "center", or "left" or "right" either; they're generally ill-defined to begin with, and "center" especially appeals to the other side's bias — essentially letting it be taken for granted that FDR was anything akin to a fur-hatted Communist. To borrow a sentiment from the late Steve Kangas, liberalism — at least the degree of 'liberalism' that can be fairly associated with the Democratic party at its most "leftward" — arguably is a "center", the golden mean between the straitjacket of absolute equality and the meatgrinder of absolute liberty.

My political directions, thus, are "in" and "out": "in" is the direction that takes you closer to Joe Sixpack, towards the median citizen, and "out" is any direction that takes you toward a statistical outlier. Economically speaking, "in" is heavily pro-employee, tolerant of private employers, and very very strict with millionaires (the people who make so much money they constitute the "margin of error" zone on a quintile graph).

Now, look at the people running for office, in either party. In or out?

Not to put too fine a point on it, the 'professional' Dems have the psychological luxury of continuing to play this wrong hand, because by and large ... they're not the ones hurt by losing. John Kerry (e.g.) might worry about losing elections, but he's never going to really worry about losing his job. Until someone figures out a way that any store clerk from Peoria can run effectively for office, don't expect either party to do a lot for the store clerks of the nation.

[chicofaraby]

32. Time to stop playing by the GOPs rules

I AM guilty of overstating my case earlier, but I think the point is still valid. The Dems don't need to pick off the GOPs voters. There are more than enough voters sitting it out because of a perceived lack of differentiation between the parties. The last several elections have been close enough that one would only need to energize 10% of the non-voters in order to swing an election.

While I agree that the terms "left" "right" and "center" are lame, they are the common parlance and people know what we're talking about when we use them. That said, the left has for too long allowed the right to define the "center" and in doing so has led the public to this false idea that leftists are Marxists. The right has dominated the "name game," insisting that anyone who even suggests that Corporatism should be reined in is somehow either promoting the Communist Manifesto or Mao's Great Leap. By scurrying away from reasonable restraints on Corporate power, the Dems have left an enormous gap between the GOP's Corporate Statism and theoretical Marxist wishful thinking. This gap is where large numbers of voters sit. The American Left isn't under any delusion that the state will wither and the proletariat will rule. That schoolbook Marxism is not even serious. However, there ARE reasonable people who understand that unfettered capitalism isn't just bad for the working class, it's bad for the entire population. The current right wing thinking insists that even a public service like the Post Office must turn a profit for some reason. And the shame of it is, no one has even DARED to suggest that such thinking is absurd!

In short, I think there is a huge opportunity for the Dems, if they will only take it. Stop fearing the right, stop caring what they say, stop emulating their positions and start appealing to the American sense of pragmatism. The thing about FDR wasn't that his plans worked, many didn't. What mattered is he kept trying ideas until he found things that DID work. It's about results. The health care disaster is the perfect starting point for pragmatic solutions.

And BTW, being rich like John Kerry isn't what turns voters off. Being timid like John Kerry is what turns voters off.

[Mechatanketra]

33. To make my point clearer ...

In short, I think there is a huge opportunity for the Dems, if they will only take it. Stop fearing the right, stop caring what they say, stop emulating their positions and start appealing to the American sense of pragmatism. The thing about FDR wasn't that his plans worked, many didn't. What mattered is he kept trying ideas until he found things that DID work. It's about results. The health care disaster is the perfect starting point for pragmatic solutions.

And BTW, being rich like John Kerry isn't what turns voters off. Being timid like John Kerry is what turns voters off.

My point, FWIW, wasn't that being rich turns voters off to John Kerry. It's that being rich turns John Kerry off to the voters.

To be blunt, I think a big problem we face is that the 'professional' Democrats (i.e. the faces of the party, rather than the rank and file) don't fear the right, not the way I and those in my community do (or should). I'm reminded of the line from the TV premiere of The Boondocks, when Huey notes that it's basically impossible for him to offend the folks at the party his grandfather has taken him to, because they're too rich to feel threatened by anything he says. It may bother people like Kerry or Hillary that the GOP are in power ... but it doesn't scare them the way it can folks near the median.

[jaysunb]

31. I agree, but there is a way

to " nuance" this :
So you mustn't even imply that any of this mess is the voters' fault.
Which means you can't attack the misconceptions and prejudices that make them vote GOP.
Which means that you basically can't say the GOP is wrong.

One could state that, " we've tried this way, and it dosen't work."

But then of course, you'd have to present an alternative. :evilgrin:

[MasonJar]

24. Yea! They plan to buy more machines. I am so worried about the

voting machines. The only way to get rid of them is to win the majority, but how can we with the machines?

[PassingFair]

25. I've been asking around.....

I personally think that Bush "jumped the shark" in the SOTU.

His handlers blew it. I think if he would have commiserated with the population he might have scored, but his announcement that THE ECONOMY IS STRONGGGGGGG! was a bit TOO much for the people, even HIS people to stomach.

Wages are down, investments are flat. Jobs are being outsourced. PEOPLE KNOW THEY ARE BEING LIED TO.

My mother just came back from the Grand Rapids area of Michigan. A traditionally republican, religiously repressive area. Guess what -- the folks there are dogging *ush BIG-TIME.
This doesn't bode well for the westsiders challenger to Jennifer Granholm, Dick DeVos. The non-lutheran
constituencies do not trust him either!

My mother also told me today that she's getting ANTI-BUSH and ANTI-WAR emails from her religious friends! This is something COMPLETELY new.

Dare I allow myself a MOMENT of hope?

Stay tuned...

[rodeodance]

27. well, she should continue to forward them (I hope)

My mother also told me today that she's getting ANTI-BUSH and ANTI-WAR emails from her religious friends! This is something COMPLETELY new.

[PassingFair]

28. Oh, she's forwarding them, alright! Here is the text of a note found

on her car last week. She was in a parking lot at a store (Meijers?)
She drives a VW Jetta and has two bumper stickers. One reads: We need a better President
the other reads: Grandparents for Kerry/Edwards..

Here is the note left on her windshield:

"We need a better President????
What we NEED is for people LIKE YOU
to move overseas
where your damn
car was built!
YOU STINKIN
DEMOCRATS!
Your sleasy (sic) Clinton
could have taken
out BIN LADEN -- he
chose otherwise.
YOU SUCK -- I
had a relative
killed in the
Trade Tower --

would you like us
to stand by and
just smile ??
USE WHAT LITTLE
COMMON SENSE
GOD BLESSED YOU
WITH!


My mother gave me the note and said: "We're really getting to them now!

I love my mom!

[jamesinca]

35. He tried to take out OBL

but was accused by the republican congress of wagging the dog, trying to change the subject from the biggest scandal ever; blow job gate and white water.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

37. I referred to Clinton/Lewinsky as "Peckergate"

And the bogus impeachment proceedings as The Peckergate Coup.

[PassingFair]

46. Which she would gladly have told the idiot...

if said idiot hadn't left a cowardly note on her car.
She went straight home and donated to the DNC.

[TankLV]

45. Didn't we hear the same thing LAST TIME around?

[stickdog]

34. HAVA cigar. You'll go far. (nt)

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

38. I'd be a lot more excited if not for Black Box Voting

We can't get every damned voting machine removed by the time we have fall elections, but we can make an issue of their credibility.

If the people are aware of all the flaws in the system, hopefully the pugs won't get away with stealing an election.

[spotbird]

39. Buried headline

But recent polls suggest voters may care little about such accomplishments. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this week found that, by a 47 per cent to 38 per cent margin, Americans prefer a Congress controlled by Democrats to one controlled by Republicans.

Perhaps more worrying: 46 per cent said it was time to give a new candidate a chance to serve in Congress, rather than the incumbent – a warning that the November elections could see a large number of seats turn over.

Such dramatic shifts only happen occasionally – such as in 1994, when Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America and a series of Democratic scandals helped Republicans take control of the House for the first time in 40 years.

[AndyA]

40. Too late now for improvement

No matter how much positive spin the Republicans put out between now and November, they have huge hurdles to leap along the way:

DeLay indictments

Abramoff revelations

Libby trial maneuvers

Ney scandal

Bush's credibility problem

Republican's credibility problem

Frist SEC investigation

Iran

Iraq

More revelations from Fitzgerald

More jobs lost to outsourcing

Gas prices (need to come down and stay down, which isn't going to happen)

Patriot Act II (remember what Ben Franklin said: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.")

What have I missed?

A lot of holes are going to be in the road to elections in November for the Republicans.

[DoYouEverWonder]

42. Their world is turning to shit

and most of them won't have a clue what hit them when it finally falls apart.

The scary part is paranoid people can be dangerous when they are desperate.

[VirginiaDem]

43. Bad news for the revolutionaries around here

The Republicans really are sinking; the Democrats really are taking advantage of this; the Republicans really have painted themselves into a corner; Republican scandals really do exist, really do get coverage, and really will continue to grow; this really is shaping up to be a nationalized election; we really are out-recruiting and (relatively) out-fundraising them; we really can win elections despite Diebold/Black Boxes (witness the VA/NJ off-year election).

It's looking more and more like a blue November and there is much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments amongst the Doom and Gloom faction of DU as the Dreaded Democratic Establishment (read: everyone to the right of Kucinich) work within the system to retake one or both houses of Congress.

As for me, I can't get enough of the good news. Bring it on. :popcorn: