Republicans Relish Facing One of the 'Liberals'

[kskiska]

They Don't Know His Name, but the Label Is Ready

By David S. Broder and Mike Allen

MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 25 -- Ask any of President Bush's Washington strategists to size up the Democratic candidates campaigning for Tuesday's New Hampshire primary and they will say they are delighted at the prospect of running against a liberal tax-raiser who is soft on terrorism. They don't know what his name is, but those Republicans say that they can put him in that box, whoever he turns out to be. One Republican consultant said the basic message of ads on behalf of Bush will be that the Democrat is "liberal, liberal, liberal."

By contrast, key Republicans here say their close-up view convinces them that the Democrats may field a ticket capable of making November's election as close as the 2000 race.

Peter Spaulding, an elected member of the state Executive Council and a strategist in Arizona Sen. John McCain's successful 2000 New Hampshire GOP primary campaign, said Sunday that a ticket combining Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards (N.C.) "could be very, very competitive" in New Hampshire and nationally.

"The country is still very polarized," Spaulding said, "and I don't see a lot of Gore-Lieberman people who wouldn't vote for that ticket." Still, neither Kerry nor Edwards has commented about such a ticket.

None of the half dozen New Hampshire Republican leaders interviewed said Bush was anything but a favorite for a second term. But they were far less dismissive of the Democratic challenge than their counterparts at the Republican National Committee or the Bush reelection headquarters in Arlington, Va.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47276-2004Jan25.html

[lancdem]

1. Notice the difference between national Repukes

and the ones in N.H. BTW, I think that liberal canard won't work among swing voters like they assume. Bush has major liabilities on foreign and domestic issues that we can exploit.

[pmbryant]

2. The GOP is ripe for a takedown, using such a cutting-edge strategy

With cutting-edge campaign strategy such as this one ripped out of Lee Atwater's 1988 playbook, the GOP is clearly at the top of their game.

...

:eyes:



Seriously... they are going down and they know it. :D

--Peter

[lancdem]

5. I thought so, too

That's the best they can come up with? Yawn. Bring it on!

[pmbryant]

7. Well, they can't really help but reach back to 1988

After all, that was the last time they actually won a Presidential election.

:-)

--Peter

[KC21304]

3. Just more Bird Seed.

Labels or conventional wisdom are not going to do it in this election. It really is a different world.

[UpInArms]

4. "liberal" as in how

Ann (the man) Coulter and Rush (snort snort) Limpbag define it?


Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

ROFLMAO!!!!

These guys are comedians!

They only wish that "liberal" was a dirty word.

Any of our "liberal" candidates will show the BFEE the door.

And I do mean "any" one of them.

The ticket they have is definitely a loser. Just look at what they have done to our country.

[BattyDem]

6. According to the Bushies ...

a "liberal" is anyone who thinks the Constitution is a good idea and that Americans should actually get something in return for their tax dollars, like roads, schools, health care, etc. People are catching on ... slowly ... but they are catching on. I just hope enough of them catch on by November.

[Philosophy]

10. I agree - they overused the word

Liberal used to just be a political adjective, but the conservative media have overused it so much that for them it has seriously morphed into a synonym for "evil" - just look at the title of Hannity's latest book. The American people are getting tired of the constant hyperbole.

[mgc1961]

8. That "bring it on" talk...

...about liberals is nothing more than bluster.

[AmandaRuth]

9. liberal.....

liberal......LIBERAL .....booga boooga boo! BOO!!!!

[emulatorloo]

11. All we have to do is mention the deficits. . .

Was it Dean that called Bush "Credit Card Republican"?

[Cat Atomic]

12. If the Bush campaign defines it's competition as "liberal"

they will turn it into a positive word again. Bush is not popular. People are waking up to the damage his policies are causing, and the corporatist agenda of his administration has become to blatantly obvious to ignore.

I sincerely hope they *do* label their competition as liberal. The alternative to corporatism is liberalism. They'd be doing us all a big favor by pointing that out.

[Piperay]

13. Hopefully whichever Democrat

gets the nomination will not let the word LIBERAL be turned into a dirty word anymore. :mad:

[radfringe]

14. personally, I think they are scared sh*tless

sounds like a lot of huffing-puffing hubris to me

don't know about your corner of the world, but in my area (Wilkes-Barre - Scranton PA) I have yet to hear anyone coming out in cheering support of bush* -- more apt to hear someone say "I voted for bush* and I'm sorry" or "...no way am I voting for bush*..." or "I just switched my party affiliation to independent/democratic..."