Rove's strategy for the 2006 elections is now quite clear

[Jersey Devil]

Bin Laden tape, al Zawahiri tape, alleged killing of al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, all part of the "Terra, terra, terra, Dems are traitors, Repubs will keep boogeymen out of your bedrooms" campaign in 2006.

Why not? It worked in 2004 when on the last weekend before the election Bin Laden suddenly showed up to reinforce the "Bush is strong on terror" theme and pulled out the election for him.

Now it's Abramoff, Plamegate, illegal spying on Americans, Bush approval rating in the toilet, etc. and time to change the subject.

I am hoping that this time people will see through it just as they now see through the bullshit WMD claims. Only time will tell if it will be enough to yank Repubs out of the toilet. It is up to us to keep hammering away nonstop.

[glitch]

1. One-trick pony.

But I am sure he is still paying a lot of stooges in the corporate media to call him a genius.

[BOSSHOG]

2. the badass chickenhawks

the chickenshit coward lemmings along with the religiously insane will skip right along to the message of ignorance and arrogance emanating from the white house like the stench of a broken toilet at a truck stop. I guess bush doesn't need the assistance of his base to enlist to continue to keep the boogeyman at bay. They are doing their patriotic duty in this country waving flags, drinking beer and fucking their daughters.

[northernsoul]

3. Now there needs to be a unified counter-strategy

I'm optimistic that Dr. Dean and the DNC will actually fight back this time... 'course I was optimistic in 2004 as well.

[f-bush]

4. We need to hit Rove et al hard....

we need to be as nasty and dirty as they are...go after their families, children, work sites anything that will tear them apart. That is the only way that anything gets done.

[Lexingtonian]

5. I read it a little differently

My impression is that Rove is simply telling them to be aggressive in everything, to stay on the attack.

Democrats are united and Republican unity is soft, that's what it's about. Additionally, the Terror stuff doesn't work as well for Congress or on the state level as it does for the Presidency, so you're seeing them trying to go over to emphasizing tax cuts and such now.

I think Rove is either ignorant/unsure of how fragile moderate Republican support is becoming this year, or he thinks bullying/overwhelming them is the most effective (or maybe just internally most defensible) thing he can advise.

He does hold a bad hand. He's a few months away from losing moderate Repubs on Iraq. Al Qaeda's next major attack will predictably lose Republicans their support by the last 10% of the electorate that is nonpartisan, if not a bit more, and put them under 40% permanently, if not 35%. They're losing the moderates on the Abramoff/DeLay criminality when the courts convict. The ice is fairly thin on their side's tax cut agenda- they could easily overreach, to which they seem oblivious. On social policy the Christian Right will try to get them into another overreach a la Schiavo this year- maybe on abortion, maybe on the Oregon assisted suicide thing, would be my guess.

[Jersey Devil]

8. Excellent points - thanks

Sometimes I think I see things clearly but lack overall perspective and your post does that well.

[OneBlueSky]

6. strategy? . . . they don't need no stinkin' strategy! . . .

they own the voting machines . . . and the tabulators . . . and the software . . . and all three branches of government . . . and the media . . .

and the Carlyle Group just bought Dunkin' Donuts . . .

strategy? . . . they don't need no stinkin' strategy! . . . the election is a lock! . . .

[Imagevision]

7. White House eavesdropping program has caught Rove's attention

Karl to attempt to change the issue for challenging the legality of the administration's widespread use of warrantless wiretaps in the face of widespread criticism.

Mr. Rove said, referring to the program in which the National Security Agency eavesdropped on conversations without getting a warrant from a judge. "Some important Democrats and Republicans clearly disagree."

The speech by Mr. Rove was by any measure a highly unusual political event in Washington. It marked a relatively rare public speech by one of the best-known public officials in this White House and it came at a time that Mr. Rove himself is under investigation for his role in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer to reporters.

In his speech, Mr. Rove made no mention of his own legal situation. And even as he sought to rally his troops, he made no mention of an issue that accounts for much of the Republican concern about the coming midterm elections: The influence-peddling investigation of Congress that has focused on some senior Republican leaders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/politics/20cnd-rove.html?ex=1295413200&en=9f44be1aff8d5190&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[FreedomAngel82]

9. The timing of the last "tape"

I hope people don't buy it either.

[Jersey Devil]

10. I have suspected they sit on these tapes since Nov 04

when an OBL tape suddenly popped up the week before the election when it looked as though Bush was going to lose and he suddenly had a surge as a result.