(w/cartoon)HEADING INTO ELECTIONS, LET US BOW OUR HEADS AND GIVE THANKS...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

Things are not looking good for Senator Allen in Virginia, Lt. Governor Steele in Maryland, Mayor Corker in Tennessee and a dozen other Republican Senatorial candidates around the nation because of Bush’s failed Iraq War and terrorism policies. A highly classified report issued by all 16 US intelligence agencies has concluded that the Iraq War has increased the threat of international terrorism facing the American nation.








September 24, 2006 Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com) Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Email: [e-mail] Feel free to publish at no charge without prior approval.
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Although the Bush White House has always hyped the Iraq War as vital to the international fight against extreme Islamic terrorism, critics have long disagreed. The Republicans in Congress and the Senate have largely repeated the false claims and talking points being pushed by the Bush White House. They are likely to pay a huge political price at the polls this November.

The Iraq War is simply a failure of political leadership and political vision. Like Vietnam, the failure is not really a military one. Our military is almost always victorious in military terms. The real failure is that the Bush Republicans are inclined to use military force to solve problems where military force is not the most appropriate means. Military force is never going to be the best or sole solution to fighting forces like Bin Laden!

Republican candidates should be held responsible for their support of Bush’s failed policies they have long supported. Kean is likely to lose steam in New Jersey as a result of this intelligence report. Senate races in New Jersey, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Montana and Nevada are going to see Democratic candidates gaining support as a direct result of this National Intelligence Estimate concluding the Iraq War is undermining the so-called “War on Terror.”

Voters are angry with Bush Republicans over being lied to by Republican politicians over the reasons we invaded Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction were never found. These WMD’s seem to have not existed at the time of the invasion. The Iraq military was not a serious threat to other Middle East nations after the first Iraq War much less the United States. The only widely accepted reason believed by significant segments of the American public is that somehow Iraq was a vital front in the “War on Terror.”

It was another lie that invading Iraq would help the United States in the battle with the terrorist band under the control of Bin Laden. We need clear thinking, non-ideological approaches to serious issues including terrorism, security, foreign policy, trade, etc. The Bush Republicans are not giving us this kind of leadership.

Voters are not stupid. Democratic candidates need to publicize this NIE report and go on the offensive against the failed Republican policies supported by Republican candidates.

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[Donald Ian Rankin]

1. Sadly, I don't agree with all of this.

"Things are not looking good for Senator Allen in Virginia"

Unfortunately, I think they are - despite everything that's come out about him, he's still 5 or 6 points ahead in most polls.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. watch out for the "polls" they can be a tricky propaganda tool!

do you remember this?

On Friday, the CBS News/New York Times poll showed Bush leading Kerry by nine points. It followed a Gallup poll that found Bush fourteen points ahead. These strongly pro-Bush polls are the result of a simple fact: the sample groups include a disproportionate number of Republicans. Had the polling samples been adjusted to reflect the party identification of the likely November electorate, Bush would only be ahead by a single point. Polling by the Pew Research Center has the race tied.
that said, here's some current info on polls...

(September 25) The "Macaca" incident has in hindsight completely changed the dynamic of this race in a way we didn't anticipate at the time. Some of this is the fault of the Allen campaign and how they managed the damage control, but much of it is a function that "Macaca" acquired the legs it had because of the fodder in George Allen's background on race. As much as we were right in identifying James Webb as a potential problem for Allen back in February, we were flat out wrong as to the effect of "Macaca" this August.

Bottom line, George Allen is in trouble. And if these next round of polls show this contest tied or Webb ahead, Allen will be in big, big trouble. This is not to say that this race should be chalked up to the Democrats, only that there is a serious, potential upset brewing in Virginia.

However, before one gets too caught up in the anti-George Allen fever of the day, Senator Allen has some powerful factors working in his favor. He has a lot of money, he is running in a red state, and Allen is a very attractive and likable candidate......usually. He won his Senate seat in 2000, 52% - 48% over a tough conservative Democrat in Chuck Robb, when most other close 2000 Senate races were going to the Democrats. But the biggest ally George Allen has, is he still has six weeks to get back on track. The Allen campaign would be smart to start unloading on Jim Webb today, because the longer this race stays tied or very close, the higher the odds climb that Webb pulls off the big upset.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2006/senate/va/virginia_senate_race-14.html

Let's not count on polls or "count our chickens before they hatch." The best way to defeat ALLEN is to donate to WEBB!

James Webb in Vietnam

First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer's Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, Jim served with the Fifth Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where as a rifle platoon and company commander in the infamous An Hoa Basin west of Danang he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He later served as a platoon commander and as an instructor in tactics and weapons at Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, and then as a member of the Secretary of the Navy's immediate staff, before leaving the Marine Corps in 1972.

Jim spent the "Watergate years" as a student at the Georgetown University Law Center, arriving just after the Watergate break-in in 1972, and receiving his J.D. just after the fall of South Vietnam in l975. While at Georgetown he began a six-year pro bono representation of a Marine who had been convicted of war crimes in Vietnam (finally clearing the man's name in 1978, three years after his suicide), won the Horan award for excellence in legal writing, and authored his first book; Micronesia and U.S. Pacific Strategy. He also worked in Asia as a consultant to the Governor of Guam, conducting a study of U.S. military land needs in Asia, and their impact on Guam's political future.

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