Republican Campaign Preview

[KingofSwords]

The Bush rally does, however, provide some insight into the general-election campaign message that the Bush-Cheney campaign is trying out. If the Democratic primaries and caucuses over the next four or five weeks are a referendum on John Kerry's electability, it's worth knowing what he's expected to be electable against. Monday's rally is the second Republican event I've attended this campaign—the other was in Nashua, N.H., where John McCain stumped for the president—and the president's re-election argument, as advanced by his surrogates, couldn't be clearer. The Republicans want the threshold question of this election to be: On Sept. 11 and Sept. 12, 2001, would you rather have had George W. Bush as president or his Democratic opponent?

Both Bush rallies that I've attended emphasize the idea that the president merits re-election as a reward for past performance, as much as—or even more than—any promise of future results. "On Sept. 11, when this nation faced in many respects the greatest threat to our security, President Bush stood forward, led this nation with clarity and with strength, which has earned him the admiration and appreciation of the overwhelming majority of Americans, and I believe has earned him another term as president of the United States of America," McCain said in Nashua. The speakers at Monday's event strike similar notes. "This is a man who has restored peace to the American homeland, after we suffered the worst attack we have suffered here since Pearl Harbor," U.S. Sen. Jim Talent says. U.S. Sen. Kit Bond puts it this way: "I'm most concerned about the war on terror. When Sept. 11, 2001, hit us, George Bush knew what to do." :puke:


http://slate.msn.com/id/2094827/

[emanymton]

1. He Was Hiding In Air Force One, Looking For A Safe Haven

Interesting how the hours immediately after the attacks have been quickly and conviently forgotten!

Standing forward? In Air Force One flying out of Washington D.C.?

Knowing what to do? Ya, Run for cover.

Never forget we are dealing with a moral coward.

[dfitzsim]

2. We need to be honest with ourselves

This will be a tough message to beat. This is why he has been fighting like hell against the 9/11 commission. This message is vulnerable only if people realize that he was already grossly negligent on 9/10.

[cybildisobedience]

3. It won't be tough to beat if the Dems have the nerve to tell the truth.

How about saying this:
- He didn't listen to advance warnings (or he deliberately ignored)
- He flew all over the country on 9-11, forgetting about American citizens while he tried to save his own ass.
- He used 9-11 to impose sweeping changes to the Constitution which turns the notion of democracy on its head -- instead of open government and private lives, we have a secret government that is prying into every crevice of its citizens' private lives.
- He cut pay and benefits for first responders.
- He took the focus off Al Queda and went into Iraq on a bogus claim.
- He has stonewalled the 9-11 investigation every way he could - from trying to prevent it in the first place, then appointing Kissinger, a war criminal, to head it up, then establishing narrow parameters, then refusing to cooperate, and now, he is trying to run out the clock and wrap this up before the election.
Tell me again -- what kind of great job can anyone say this jerk did?