Dems Flat-Footed While The Lion Roars genre: Just Jihad & Polispeak & Six Degrees of Speculation
The tactics of this President and his astute political "architect" should be no surprise to voters and even less so to Democratic Party leaders. Nonetheless, it appears Democrats are approaching the response to the GOP strategy with the same reflexive defensiveness. In doing so, the Democrats are once again allowing Republican operatives to establish the topic of debate and the groundwork for that dialogue.
Simply stated, the GOP is succeeding in framing this midterm election as a critical decision point for the American voter...asking them to consider which Party is taking the threat of terror seriously enough to realize that the U.S. must complete the task in Iraq despite the fact that there is no connection to 9/11, despite the fact that it may have been mismanaged...all the while making the case that Iraq has an undeniable connection to the war on terror.
It seems clear that the Democrats have limited choices in countering the GOP framing but they certainly have better alternatives than to cry foul each time the Republicans define the decision each voter must make. Accusing the President of making Iraq and the war on terror a partisan issue simply gives the GOP's position the credibility it lacks because it fails to offer voters an alternative that can be construed as a proactive choice. Here's what happens. When Democrats say the President's speeches are political and meant to portray Democrats as weak on terror, the Republicans counter that they are merely establishing their position on Iraq and terror...allowing them to rhetorically ask why they can't or shouldn't talk about their position on what are perhaps the two most critical issues facing the country.
As Tony Snow quips, should the President not be able to talk about his position on Iraq and the war on terror? Aren't these the issues we face? Shouldn't voters be asked to choose which Party and position they want to support? I may be wrong, but if one were playing chess, the GOP is dangerously close to asserting checkmate!
As much as one may dislike the acumen demonstrated by the GOP in establishing the topic and the tone for the midterm election, it cannot be successfully countered by arguing that the GOP is using terrorism for partisan advantage. Of course they are but more importantly, and in many ways irrefutably, they are defining the choice that voters must make. Frankly, this is why I've argued that the Democrats need a cohesive and coherent position on Iraq and the war on terror. In the end, people rarely confront their fears if they perceive the absence of alternatives.
The problem this creates for the Democrats is that they want the election to be about the mismanagement of Iraq and voter dissatisfaction with its progress...but they don't want the voter decision to connect the war in Iraq directly with their fears regarding the war on terror...even though many Democrats believe that the Iraq war hasn't made us safer. That is a difficult proposition because it essentially leaves Democrats looking like they have failed to devise or to offer an alternative for handling Iraq and therefore the war on terror...aside from claiming that it is currently a failure. Nothing in that position allays voter fear...it may assuage voter anger with the mismanagement of Iraq but that may well prove too little to overcome the fear created by the GOP effort to connect Iraq to the war on terror.
While voters may agree that Iraq has been mishandled and that it hasn't made us safer, they nonetheless remain concerned that failing to succeed in Iraq may make us even less safe. When the GOP argues that they have offered a plan that includes the necessity to achieve our objectives in Iraq, they at least address the voters fears and concerns that leaving Iraq may leave us more vulnerable. Granted, the Democrats have offered a plan for security but I feel safe to conclude that less than one in ten voters could recount that plan and even less would conclude that it is really the position the Democrats would support should they gain control of the House or the Senate.
It’s not surprising Democrats are calling foul because they may well be unable to keep the focus where it has been for a number of months. Further, I'm convinced that Karl Rove believes that there was no benefit to roll out their strategy or to be seen in recent months as defending against the now longstanding Democratic opposition to the war in Iraq. Like one might equate with a poorly planned safari tour in Africa, the GOP has allowed the herd to be led by the Democratic mantra...allowing voters to buy into the rhetoric and gain confidence in their anger with the Iraq war...waiting at the back of the crowd for the right moment to step forward and point to the pride of lions that lurks within striking distance in the tall grass that surrounds the herd. As one would expect, the herd, now fraught with fear, abandons the existing guide and follows the voice that has exposed the pride of lions...hopeful they will be able to escape the danger they had been led to believe didn't exist.
Continuing with the analogy, the existing guide's call out to the herd; asking them to stop and listen because they have a plan to lead the herd to safety...if they will just hear them out. The herd, deafened by fear, cannot and will not hear or listen to the guides that they now deem incapable of keeping them safe and out of harm. They rush to follow in the wake of the once quiet (but always convicted) voice that has stepped forward at the last minute to illuminate the present danger that must now be confronted. The herd's previously held position...one that they assumed to be correct...is abandoned in the light of the ominous reality that accompanies the new and suddenly defined threat. In this example, the tour guides have lost their credibility and they are abandoned by the herd in an instant.
The election is less than two months away. The Republicans have now unleashed their potent and proven strategy and the rhetoric will continue to grow in volume and voracity. Unless the Democrats can hold the voters attention long enough to outline plausible positions that offset the din of danger, they may well bolt in fear, leaving the Democrats ready to be consumed by the lion that no longer lurks in the tall grass but is now in full bolt with its sights on the latest kill. As with the old adage, it is time for Democrats to hunt or be hunted.
Daniel DiRito | September 12, 2006 | 11:15 AM
Comments
1 On September 13, 2006 at 12:46 PM, Lemming Herder wrote —
Preach it brother, preach it!
If the Democrats don't learn to act rather than react they will get their butts whooped again.
Mehlman, Rove and the other Repugs will be defining the issues and the Democrats will look ineffectual as usual.
Posted by the Lemming Herder at Don’t Be A Lemming!
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