Will the Republican uptick hold? And, Kerry has had the right strategy

[wisteria]

all along,IMO. This commentary mentions nothing about Kerry directly, however, I think this is the best assessment of what is going on now and what we need to continue to do as Dem's to win in November. Now, I want to know who the Democrats are who want to just discuss domestic issues.




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14926426/

Predictable as they may be, these poll numbers are extremely significant. Democrats should now understand that if they cede Iraq and terrorism to Bush -- or allow Bush to define the debate -- then their dreams of a congressional majority will go up in smoke.

Between now and Election Day, Bush will not get the same opportunity to dominate the Iraq debate although there is talk among some Democrats who seem to have forgotten about trying to stick to domestic issues in the '02 and '04 elections.

If that's the ultimate response by some Democrats, then the White House will be ecstatic. But if the Democrats focus on Iraq and try to drive a wedge between terrorism and Iraq, then the minority party should benefit considering the media's attention to Iraq. The first two "Meet The Press" debates give the impression that the 2006 election is mostly about Iraq -- and a bunch of other stuff.

[beachmom]

1. Anyone watch Ed Gillespie last week on The Daily Show?

His criticisms of the Kerry campaign were utter BS. But they sounded familiar -- that "Election 2004" Newsweek book simply regurgitates all of Ed's GOP talking points. To this day I KNOW it was the right thing for Kerry to bring up the stolen munitions from Iraq on the last week of the campaign. That was no distraction -- that was real concrete evidence that Bush administration incompetence had endangered soldiers' lives. It was totally true, and the Republicans LIED repeatedly about it that week, when we now know it did happen.

Well, Ed said "oh, they just chased the headlines instead of talking about domestic issues. that would have been a better strategy". He's just saying this claptrap to trick Dems into talking domestic matters, when NOBODY will listen if they are not confident in Dems' creds on national security.

[wisteria]

2. You have that right. We do lead on domestic issues, but they are

just not going to give us any traction right now. Polls do not indicate people are more concerned with these issues than with Iraq and the war on terror. We do not have to media at our beck and call to even showcase domestic issues, we can at least get some air time on Iraq. Focusing on Domestic issues is just the wrong course right now. I say we stick with what we are doing and demand more of the media's attention.
All of this is reminiscent of the 04 campaign where we vacillated between domestic and war issues when it was clear people were mainly concerned about terrorism and the war.The Republicans made jokes about how we couldn't decide what to do. Gillespie just doesn't want to see the Democrats make gains on this issue so his philosophy is we should stick with our strong issues and not challenge the Republicans.

[ProSense]

3. Did you see this?

Buyer's remorse: The Bush story the press won't tell (Eric Boehlert)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2837613&mesg_id=2837613

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2837613&mesg_id=2838836

[whometense]

5. I think this is a more accurate take.

I've been TRYING to watch Hardball to gauge what's going on, but it really messes with my head.

They have been trying mightily to spin this "uptick" in Shrubbo's approval ratings as a trend, but I don't buy it. The most rational explanation is that the 9/11 anniversary gave him a platform to sway back a few of the braindead types who believe whatever hype the likes of Chris Matthews are feeding them.

If you were to believe the msm reading, the repukes are on the upswing, they'll maintain control of congress, and soon everyone will love Bush again. To which I say, LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But if you watch these shows, you might well be convinced this is the truth. They lie so smoothly. Not a single wince of conscience in evidence. But, as Boehlert says, they are so heavily invested in Bush's success at this point they just can't afford to revisit the actual evidence.

My :tinfoilhat: tells me they are working the edges. So long as the polls show a 4-5% difference or less, the election is stealable.

[wisteria]

7. The numbers aren't too bad and this is a mid-term election not

a presidential election so even though we still lag behind Bush on who would best handle Iraq and terrorism, we aren't far behind and this is with Bush bump. We just have to manage to keep the Iraq situation front and center and fresh in people's minds.
Oh, and I think we might want to mention Bush's new imitative after the election to tackle Social Security again. It might sway a few people who remember that Kerry brought this up during 04 and no one believed it until Bush attempted to change SS as we know it. This issue upsets older Americans.
All in all though, we have to stick with Iraq. We actually had no choice to begin with. I think most of us found out in 04 that you can't run just on the domestic issues now a days and we can't run from discussions on the war, security and terrorism.

[whometense]

8. Thanks, ProSense!!!

My post about the Boehlert article made the Daou Report!!!

[ProSense]

11. Awesome!

http://daoureport.salon.com/default.aspx

[karynnj]

4. I agree and I assume Ed remembers the talk

in the early part of that last week - where many talk show people, who spent nearly the entire campaign knocking Kerry - saying they thought he was going to win. Specifically, I remember Tucker Carlson. I also remember Matthews speaking with Howard Fineman saying with obvious surprise that it looked like Kerry was pulling it off - they then spoke of how he did this in spite of having less political skills than others who won - the conversation oddly made this a positive - he's not a panderer.

If Ed is advising us to talk domestic issues - it's because he is afraid of us speaking national security. It is so frustrating to me that the Democrats didn't latch onto claiming the fact that more people can see Kerry was right in 2004. It seems factions in the party would rather sound confused on the issue rather than give Kerry credibility and visibility. (Talk of "cutting off your nose to spite your face")

After going to Boston, I emailed a Republican WWII vet relative Kerry's speech - here's his response:

"is a fine speech and a specific plan for moving forward in a complex dangerous situation that does not yield to the force we are attempting to apply. My heart breaks for the troops who are bravely paying for this with their young blood. It is more than anyone in Washington has ever done in appealing for the support to the American people in the past twelve years.

It is a plan that will have to withstand vicious debate in the coming months, but it is a plan. That is more than I have heard emerging from Washington itself, and so I am paying attention. The debate should be revealing"

The hardest part is explaining that some leaders of the Democratic party - which has nothing else of similar substance - would prefer to pretent Kerry doesn't exist. The same person has questioned why the Democrats aren't speaking out. (He is right - there was more fury and energy about how CLINTON was portrayed in a movie than there was when the Iraq plans were discussed.)

[whometense]

6. god.

This is frustrating me too.

Part of me wants to argue on the liberal websites that you can't argue that dems and repubs are the same. But when you see this kind of behavior all you can do is yell, look at Kerry! I'm happy to do that, but it's not a great argument for all dems. Just for Kerry.

Oh - and Bill Clinton???? To quote Tay, he can BITE ME.

[sandnsea]

10. We "made" those headlines

We didn't chase them. The campaign had several items lined out to hammer the Bushies with in the final days - I don't know what they were specifically, just that they were. The Osama tape took the air out of all of that. But - if the campaign wasn't prepared for something like that, then that was a definite mistake.

I also think there is some Dem contingent that is comfortable running on the domestic stuff and thinks that that is Dems framing the campaign season. I don't know who they are exactly, but I agree with you that we've got to get it right on security first.

[paulk]

9. this looks like total MSNBC spin

http://ostroyreport.blogspot.com/2006/09/countdown-to-november-new-polls.html