Did Democrats fail to counteract Bush propaganda?

[ochazuke]

Bush portrayed the capture of Saddam as making the world safer, he was a danger to the world and now the Baathists can't come back to power.

I didn't hear any of the Democratic candidates clearly refute these points. Dean just said it didn't make us safer.

The linkage between Iraq and the war on terrorism must be powerfully refuted whenever it is put forward. People are too likely to forget that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11. And who is to say what will happen in Iraq now? And after we leave?... who is to say there won't be a civil war? Who is to say the new leaders won't appeal to the anti-American feelings so strong among the traditional ruling Sunnis? Maybe it was safer to have Saddam under our thumb in his palace. Only time will tell.

Anyway, we need leaders who will attack the Bush barrage of deceit with a quiver of logic, facts and common sense as mean as a Drano martini.

[pinkpops]

1. several of the dems are helping Bush

move the center to the right.

[Abe Linkman]

2. Naive to expect Democrats to do that

They have little to gain & would open themselves to more criticism if they did that. Besides, they're all beholden to the same powerful interests as the Republicans, so you really can't expect them to do much more than Dean did.

[JailBush]

3. On another thread, someone claimed that Lieberman, Gephardt and

Kerry more or less praised Bush for capturing Saddam. Most of us have long known that Lieberman and Gephardt are DINOs (Democrats In Name Only), but Kerry's sellout was a shock.

On the positive side, it helps narrow the field.

[Gloria]

4. I think Clark has basically remarked OK, Hussein is gone but we still

have a big problem....

Hope when he gets back to the States he gets more coverage and he says a lot more!!

[sandnsea]

15. They all said that

This is just more spin.

[LTR]

19. Clark refuses to badmouth the Bush Administration

While on foreign soil.

Smart move.

The TV talking heads have been trying to bait him, but he has been very smart about it, giving credit to Lt. Gen. Sanchez and the troops. No mention of Bush.

He should be on his way back now ar is already back in the states as we speak. I imagine we'll hear more very soon.

[mmonk]

5. Is this a trick question?

[Cocoa]

6. they all stayed on message

that's how they counteract the propaganda, no one changed their positions, because nothing changed. They don't have to make statements.

[Scott Lee]

7. Ha!! Does a bear shit in the woods?

I was even disappointed in my guy (Dean)'s response.

If Dems don't grab these opportunities to smack over the head of the Warpig administration, they are gonna lose it all.

[arewethereyet]

8. Edwards responded correctly and elegantly

as always.

I have not heard another use that opportunity well.

[mmonk]

10. Must be a touchy

position for him. He supported the war and its premise, but must distance himself from bush at the same time.

[Triana]

9. Democrats have failed to conteract the Bu$h propoganda for...

...at least the past 3 years, if not longer. They have veritable plattersful of issues to crow about, this being only one, and they simply choose to attack each other or become Bu$h Lite, instead.

They've obviously lost sight of the major objective, the largest at the mo is getting Bu$hit out of the Oval Office and what do they do? Snipe at each other. Eh?

Go figure.

[NewJeffCT]

18. I agree

The Democrats have rolled over/bent over for Rove & his crew for the last 3 years like * really was chosen by God. We need more fire.

Imagine if Gore had been President for the past 3 years and had turned a huge surplus into a $500 billion deficit, passed out favors to his biggest supporters, nominated judges that are so far to the left that they make Noam Chomsky look moderate, had veiled his whole administration in secrecy, stonewalled a major investigation, etc...

the Republicans would have been hammering away at Gore 24/7 to anybody that would listen.

[maggrwaggr]

11. The Dumbocrats would wipe their ass with a winning lottery ticket

they've got a sitting president who brings up a new scandal just about every day.

He's lied blatantly, proven himself to be mind-blowingly incompetent, has committed acts that can only be described as treasonous, has made Watergate look miniscule by comparison.

And what have the Dumbs done? Nada. They've even cheered him on.

To say "they suck" doesn't do justice to the word "suck". They less than suck. They simply might as well not exist.

They are nothing. They are a vacuum.

[sal]

21. They aren't dumb, they are corrupt.

Just plain crooked. And now they are frightened because they know they will eventually be caught if Dean cleans out the DNC. That is why they attack Dean so hard. Will we ever face up to this?

[cryofan]

12. Ummm...it's NOT Bush's propaganda, it's CorpGovMedia's propaganda

And anyone who does not play along will be marginalized. So, if you want to be a "serious" candidate, you have to take positions not far from the center. That is why Bush and Dean both called it a "great day" for celebration, or words to that effect. How the hell does a supposedly anti-war candidate celebrate an act of war?

So the mainstream candidates are not out to counter CorpGovMedia propaganda, but instead are just trying to play the game within defined limits. But not to go outside the limits.....

[dusty64]

13. I'd prefer someone

who doesn't play by the rules and calls the media whores what they are. Maybe when saddamfest dies down and people see it has made no real difference this will happen.

[cryofan]

22. ummm,,,,yeah, me, too n/t

[Loonman]

14. Understatement.....

The Democrats, especially that weasel Daschle did everything but kiss Bush on his ass cheeks.

[BurtWorm]

16. Yes they did.

They committed the tactical error of allowing the debate to be waged on the Republicans' turf. This is the killer error Democrats ALWAYS friggin' make.

[CWebster]

17. yes

a thousand times, yes.

[truthspeaker]

20. YES

Does a bear spit in the woods? (Most) Dems are afraid their poll numbers will fall if they speak the truth. They're followers, not leaders.

Dem politician: I'm going to call Bush out on his outrageous lies!

Campaign manager: Well, sir, we focus grouped that and it doesn't test well with 35-55 year old males or soccer moms.

Dem politician: OK. How about if I stand next to a flag and congratulate our armed forces?

Campaign manager: much better! Your numbers look good! I'm going to talk to the guys in statistics on what your opinions about the economy should be.

[BackDoorMan]

23. They better be ready for it, if they decide to prance around bin Laden

next year.