Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir Republicans

[dajoki]

NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/washington/08stakes.html?ex=1304740800&en=cd54396c7cb62c3e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir Republicans

By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: May 8, 2006

WASHINGTON, May 5 — To anyone who doubts the stakes for the White House in this year's midterm Congressional elections, consider that Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the Democrat who would become chairman of the Judiciary Committee if his party recaptured the House, has called for an inquiry into the possible impeachment of President Bush over the war in Iraq.

Or listen to Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who would run the Senate Judiciary Committee if the Democrats took the Senate. Mr. Leahy vowed in a recent interview to subpoena top administration officials, if he got the chance, to answer more questions about their secret eavesdropping program and what he considers faulty prewar intelligence.

The prospect of the administration spending its last two years being grilled by angry Democrats under the heat of partisan spotlights has added urgency to the efforts by Karl Rove and Mr. Bush's political team to hang on to the Republican majorities in Congress.

Newly shorn of the daily policymaking duties he took on after the 2004 campaign and now refocused on his role as Mr. Bush's chief strategist, Mr. Rove is facing an increasingly difficult climate for Republicans, and an increasingly assertive Democratic Party.

The ambitious second-term agenda he helped develop has faltered even with a Republican Congress. His once-grand plans for creating a broadened and permanent Republican majority have given way to a goal of clinging to control of the House and Senate.

The prospect of Democrats capturing either, however, may be one of the best weapons Mr. Rove has as he turns to what he has traditionally done best: motivating his party's conservative base to turn out on Election Day

[Erika]

1. Our country can't afford to let the GOP stay in power

They've pretty well wrecked our country and their foreign policy is in shambles.

[Mz Pip]

2. What a call to action!

"Don't let them win! They might indict us!" :eyes:

I'm sure that's a very scary thought for many of them.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Notoverit]

4. But NYT makes it sound like it's a great thing...

Have you noticed how all the Sunday talk shows (as well as NYT) were on memo?

[Mz Pip]

6. And that is a scary thing

It amazes me that people are willing to vote for possible criminals just to keep them from being investigated and maybe indicted.

It's a far cry from WWII when people hid the Jews in their attics an basements so they wouldn't be caught by the Nazis. That was honorable and noble.

Voting to keep these rat bastards in power because they might get caught is positively surreal. Telling people to voite for you to keep you from getting investigated it mind boggling.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[dajoki]

16. LOL

Half the Congress and admin. would be indicted.

[Xeric]

3. Rove machine is already cranking up

One of the tactics I'm already seeing on stock message boards is the economic threat. One freeper posted: "If the Dems win the House and Senate back, the MARKET is going to TANK!" This looks like a concerted effort. My response:
---------------------------------
Wrong.

From a slate article:
But Democrats, it turns out, are much better for the stock market than Republicans. Slate ran the numbers and found that since 1900, Democratic presidents have produced a 12.3 percent annual total return on the S&P 500, but Republicans only an 8 percent return. In 2000, the Stock Trader's Almanac, which slices and dices Wall Street performance figures like baseball stats, came up with nearly the same numbers (13.4 percent versus 8.1 percent) by measuring Dow price appreciation. (Most of the 20th century's bear markets, incidentally, have been Republican bear markets: the Crash of '29, the early '70s oil shock, the '87 correction, and the current stall occurred under GOP presidents.)

According to almanac editor Jeffrey Hirsch, the presidential party figures are among the most significant he's found. If the stock market were random, we'd expect such a result only one-quarter of the time. "I don't know why people are convinced Republicans are good for the stock market," Hirsch says.

Nor does having a Republican Congress help the market. A Democratic Senate showed returns of 10.5 percent (versus 9.4 percent for a GOP upper chamber), and a Democratic House returned 10.9 percent versus 8.1 percent for the Republicans.

When both houses of Congress opposed the president, the return was a stellar 12.9 percent.
http://www.slate.com/?id=2071929


I think you've been listening to too much propaganda from the party of self-serving liars and thieves. They talk a good game, but when they are in power they run up the deficit, drive down the dollar, give their corporate welfare pals tax breaks, steal everything that's not nailed down (Randy Cunningham style) and leave the rest of us to pick up the pieces. They play the religion card and the hate card to stay in power despite the obvious negatives. Despicable people really.
---------------------------------------

We need to counter Rove's propaganda machine wherever it shows up. On message boards, blogs, LTTE's etc. We have the truth and the facts at our disposal. We need to use them.

[incapsulated]

5. How much you wanna bet...

There are actually Dems who will be frightened by this, lol?

"Oh, geez, Rove is going to use our impending victory as a motivational tool to stir up the repukes! Everybody, stop sounding so confident! Stop with the campaign ads! Let's keep our heads down, people..."

[FrenchieCat]

9. Well I'll tell you, certainly screaming impeachment BEFORE the election

ain't gonna help us.

[incapsulated]

10. They aren't though...

It seems the memo got out to play down any of that kind of talk. I'm talking about the Dem politicians, now, not DU. :)

Even if they have secret plans to bring down everyone, they would be fools to broadcast it, and for once, they aren't being fools.

[FrenchieCat]

11. I realized that after Sunday's talk shows....

Howard Dean certainly played impeachment down......"got other things that need to be done".....

Pelosi stammered through it..."no, certainly yes......well, not impeachment; but yes, subpeona power. :eyes:

And Wes on Maher on Friday......"Got a lot to do for the American people....like give the People the "Facts".....but we can't control where those "Facts" might take us though...."

[incapsulated]

12. It's the smart thing to say

Good on all of them. What they say and what they will do... who knows. They can't do a damn thing until they have a majority, anyway. Let's win, first.

[dajoki]

17. You're right...

Dems will dig a hole and crawl in like they did before.

[yourout]

7. I called this one months ago.

President Pelosi.....President Pelosi.....President Pelosi.....President Pelosi.....President Pelosi.....President Pelosi.....

Just like terra....terra....terra....terra....terra....

[FrenchieCat]

8. Using Conyers as the new Willie Horton.....

And they are also saying that Charlie Rangel will be the Chairman of the Ways and Means committee.

Code word for the Boogey Black men will running be the show--Horrors!

Can't have that!

What Assholes the Repigs are! truly! :mad:

[incapsulated]

13. They are scared.

They are grasping at straws. If this is the best they can do, be ascared of the black men with subpoena power, they are toast.

Let them twist in the wind. Fuck 'em.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Me, I want Charley to hit the air waves and explain how good it would be..

(watching "the Peacekeepers" on teevee now!)--You know, with George Clooney in uniform, looking like a General I know!

[meow2u3]

15. They're praying they stay out of jail

The only way that will happen is if the repunks stay in power--and we don't want that. We want those criminals where they belong--behind bars, and not in any damn Club Fed. We want to see them face to face with Bubba with No Rubba!

[dajoki]

18. They'l have to Rubba Bubba n/t