Fineman - "Bush is beginning to sound desperate"

[sfecap]

Bush is beginning to sound desperate
President can't control news from Iraq

ANALYSIS
By Howard Fineman
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 4:50 p.m. ET Oct. 7, 2004

ST. LOUIS - George Bush's real political enemy now isn't so much John Kerry as it is the flow of the news. Not long ago, Kerry's decision to attack the president as commander-in-chief (remember all those Swift Boat vets in Boston?) was dismissed by analysts (including me) as naïve at best, folly at worst. Well, it may turn out to have been the move that wins this race.

Presidential campaigns take on a life and shape of their own in the last stretch and this one now has. It's the president desperately trying to tear down Kerry as the news tears down the president. Good things are happening in the war on terrorism — the voting in Afghanistan, for example — but they are all but unnoticed in the rising flood of stories from and about Iraq.

As things now stand, Bush is left with only one argument and justification for having launched a war that has cost 1,000 lives, $150 billion and whatever goodwill America had won in the aftermath of 9/11. His last-resort reason: Saddam Hussein might have developed weapons that he might have given to terrorists that might attack the United States. And even that reasoning is undermined by the new report of the Iraq Survey Group, which says that Saddam's capacities, whatever they might have been, were withering, not "gathering," under the weight of inspections.

We now know to a relative certainty that there were no WMD, no relationship with al-Qaida to speak of, no close ties to other major terrorists, and that, in the view of Paul Bremer — Bush's own man in Baghdad and a fellow Yalie — the Bush administration pretty much botched the occupation.

(more...)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6200854

Wow! Fineman is usually fellating the chimp...

[Cha]

1. We and the Kerry campaign are more

politcally astute than howard fineman..imagine that..

"ST. LOUIS - George Bush's real political enemy now isn't so much John Kerry as it is the flow of the news. Not long ago, Kerry's decision to attack the president as commander-in-chief (remember all those Swift Boat vets in Boston?) was dismissed by analysts (including me) as naïve at best, folly at worst. Well, it may turn out to have been the move that wins this race."

I knew it was Brilliant at the time!

That's what swung(is that a word?) me over to Kerry ..was the Convention in Boston and how well it was done..including his speech ..Generals and all!

[mediaman007]

12. Kerry had no choice but to use the military lead...

they would have painted him in a corner with their pro military stance, and Kerry's anti-war activism. During the "swift boat ads", Kerry still kept the Bush/Cheney people honest.

It hasn't been easy, but I have to say the Kerry is a battler. He is the best Democrat at this time. This campaign has brought out the best from him.

[Cha]

17. Yes! Kerry is..

the best DAmn Democrat at this time! :toast:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. When presstitutes like Fineman get up off their knees,

it's a bad sign for B*sh. And since they travel in packs, when one starts taking shots the others follow. But now that they are starting to question whether the mo'fo' ought to be reSelected, I wanna know when they will start asking why he isn't being tried for war crimes. It isn't enough that he loses his job -- I want to see him in the dock at The Hague.

[Cha]

4. You and me both, buddy!

:toast:

Good call on the "presstitutes getting off their knees"!

[Carla in Ca]

8. I like that, too

[indigobusiness]

15. If there is any justice

it will happen.

[Ironpost]

27. I say the world leaders will demand that * goes before the world court

[Cha]

3. I don't know how things are really going in

Afghanistan but if bush would have stayed there..and not gone into Iraq..we wouldn't be having this converstation.

[indie_voter]

9. Last I heard, it ain't going too well

The Taliban tried to kill President Hamid Karzai's running mate the other day.

[Cha]

16. More things..fineman doesn't

know or care about.

[Disturbed]

5. Felating the chimp is becoming passe'.

Understanding This Election


The American people are conditioned to the concept of winning. It's the only thing that matters. It doesn't matter how the winning is done. The Neo Fascists have cleverly fashioned the war on Iraq as a War On Terrorism. Any country can be invaded on that premise now. Winning takes time. It cannot be disputed that America cannot win in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the Neo Fascists it's just a matter of time if America just stays the course. According to many Right Wingers, Vietnam was lost because the liberal politicians wouldn't stay the course. They lost their will to win.

Kerry/Edwards are painted as weak and not willing to win the War On Terror. Liberals and the Left Wingers are not tough enough to win the War On Terror and their weakness invites more terrorists to attack America.

This is the crux of the debate.

That is why the Kerry campaign went with the Kerry was a Hero in war. Unfortunately, the Neo Fascists put a dent into that with the Swiftboat Liars and the eroneous misperceptions of Kerry's votes in Congress. The Neo Fascists play down and dirty and consider any election as warfare where no rules apply. Many people keep saying that fear and smear tactics shouldn't be used but then also say negativity is effective. When Dems go on the attack they are attacked by the Neo Fascists who whine that the Dems are being negative and desperate. Sound bytes and perception win over complexity and facts.

It's War!

[secular_warrior]

19. Excellent post - the GOP considers election to be warfare while

the Democratic Party considers it a "noble dual" with rules and respect for the opposition. Dems come to the table expecting a friendly game of chess. Reps come expecting a back alley fight.

Until our side starts to challenge all of the false perceptions about us the GOP has instilled in the minds of the public over the past 24 years, we will always start out at a disadvantage in these national elections. It is the simple, basic, fundamental lies the public simply accepts as conventional wisdom about anything left of the political spectrum that we must challenge before attempting to make these big arguments when election time rolls around.

[Supersedeas]

28. eventually, the Media will have to weigh in one way or t'other

[Cha]

6. And thank God for this..

"Now Kerry is no Reagan, not by a long shot. But if people conclude that Bush was profoundly wrong to have gone to Iraq, Kerry doesn't have to be Reagan."


Kerry's Kerry and will possibly be the best Prez we've ever had!

[DemocracyInaction]

7. break open the booze cabinet----this was from Fineman..like in

Howard the Whore Fineman??? It's time to Parteeee. I'll bet they have an extra heavy security lock on the liquor cabinet in the White House these days.

[Cha]

10. LOL! The Sweet smell of power

crumbling!

[Sparkly]

11. "Withering, not 'gathering"

That's a good soundbyte.

He described this on TV too -- that it's a race to beat the clock, with Chimp's attacks on Kerry trying to outrun the news that's coming out against Chimp.

[drdon326]

13. Those stretch marks around Finemans mouth.....

arent from brushing his teeth.

[Don Claybrook]

14. Do Iraqi deaths count as lost lives?

Why does Fineman say this war has cost 1000 lives? It's cost many more than that. I realize he's getting on Bush for a change, but he failed to mention tens of thousands of Iraqi dead. This is a neglectful oversight at best.

[chaumont58]

20. Thru the MS-RNC website, I sent him a nasty email about....

ignoring the Iraqi lives. It is unforgivable. And he is a top flight reporter?

[Karmadillo]

18. Fineman is one rat I vote we don't let swim aboad our ship. He'll

just try to sink it later.

[Cha]

21. Yeah, fineman can eternally tread

swamp water for all I care.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. kick

[urizenxvii]

23. there's a vote!

we need to pack it, it's weighted towards *

[newyawker99]

24. Hi urizenxvii!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

25. ..

[Brooklyn Michael]

26. DU the poll

As an article on here regarding the "scientific quality" of online polls said yesterday, hitting an online poll may not show a true cross-section of opinions, but it does demonstrate organizational effectiveness. So get on that poll and vote!