What the Democrats should say after the SOTU

[Qutzupalotl]

While the capture of Saddam is a high point in an otherwise misdirected military action, keep in mind that we went in under false pretenses. In last year's State of the Union Address, the President lied repeatedly about Iraq's nuclear aspirations. We are still going over his words tonight to see if he has the audacity to lie to the American people again in a national address. We know he is capable of deliberately misleading the public in his ordinary appearances.

President Bush has broken faith with the American people. He has a pattern of telling people what they want to hear, especially in an election year. Remember when he said he was a "uniter, not a divider"? When have you seen the country so bitterly divided as now? Remember when he said he didn't want to use the troops for "nation building"? Now we learn that he had planned to topple Saddam from day one, irrespective of 9-11 and the ill-defined "war on terror". That means all the rhetoric leading up to the war was a deliberate misinformation campaign. And those secret energy task force papers that his Vice President is sitting on? They contain maps of oil fields in Iraq, and plans to invade, from well before September the 11th. That is the real reason for the invasion.

We need a President who tells the truth to the American people, not one who holds their opinions in contempt. We need to be buying oil on the open market, not toppling other countries to steal it. These actions under normal circumstances would be high crimes and impeachable--but because of the Republican stranglehold on Congress, impeachment is not possible. Therefore, I ask all Amercians to do what is right this November, what is best for America, and vote for a straight Democratic ticket!

[forgethell]

1. We all know

that Bush lied. We know he stole an election. We know his policies are wrong-headed. But all this does not seem to resonate with the American people.

When we are happy that the polls shows Bush dropping, and now has only a 58%, or a 53%, or even a 49% approval rating, then we are in deep doo-doo.

In it our message, or our messengers, or the lack of a proper platform that is causing our problems? I dodn't have the answers, but I think the questions should be asked.

[Qutzupalotl]

3. We (Democrats) know...

I just hope we use the opportunity to rebut to its fullest potential. We should remind everybody of what Bush did one year ago: looked them in the eye and lied to them.

I think our problems stem from lack of media attention. As the campaign heats up, these problems diminish somewhat as we get our message out. However, the large media outlets favor Republican "free-market" media ownership rules, and so are slanted to favor the right. If they realize that advertising revenue won't come in if people have no money, maybe they will come to their senses and at least give us a neutral playing field.

I don't think Bush's approval numbers will go up. He'll get a bump for his speech, but they'll go right back down. Iraq will still be in turmoil in November.

[solinvictus]

2. Rebuttal

Ask the Chimp in Chief where the 2 million lost jobs are that should have been restored with his economic plan.
On edit: Don't expect much out of the "opposition" leadership in the legislature. Of course, there'll be a tepid response half-agreeing with Chimpy on most points and offering a slightly different plan than the one in place. I look for the Senate Democrats to be deferential and cave in on every issue.

[Qutzupalotl]

4. Job loss is an issue that resonates.

That should be pointed out. I'm sure Bush will tout that one good quarter we supposedly just had. We should say that we had nowhere to go but up, thanks to Bush's reckless policies. We only created 1,000 jobs nationwide in December...99,000 short of projections.

I hope you're wrong about the deferential part. This may be our last chance to make our case to Bush supporters. Let's hope Dean's candidacy inspires some fiery rhetoric.