"Fear is their friend."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

"Fear is their friend."

These are the four most important words you will read today in the Washington Post. It is the writer's advice for Rethuglican candidates, the emotion they can rely on to get citizens to vote for them.

Words to Win By

THE ADVICE ISSUE (REPUBLICAN EDITION)
Words to Win By
Dept. of Advice (cont.)
Sunday, September 17, 2006; Page B05

Republicans don't have to convince Cindy Sheehan that prevailing in Iraq is crucial to our national security, but they must and can persuade former hawks to support what has to be done in Iraq. President Bush's approval ratings are up following his own recent speeches on the war on terror and the ideological struggle we confront. Republican candidates should read them. Conservative voters face a choice in November and should be fearful of political leadership that diminishes the threat we face and lacks the resolve to confront it. Republican candidates should emphasize this. Fear is their friend.

-- Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor, National Review

Interestingly, the person by whom they were written, Kate O'Beirne, is the wife of Jim O'Beirne, mentioned elsewhere in Sunday's Washington in the article

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq.

This article was posted here by DUer "bigtree" as

Most Loyal to Bush and GOP Were Sent to Rebuild Iraq (huge WaPo report)

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006; Page A01

Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.
....

To recruit the people he wanted, O'Beirne sought résumés from the offices of Republican congressmen, conservative think tanks and GOP activists. He discarded applications from those his staff deemed ideologically suspect, even if the applicants possessed Arabic language skills or postwar rebuilding experience.

Smith said O'Beirne once pointed to a young man's résumé and pronounced him "an ideal candidate." His chief qualification was that he had worked for the Republican Party in Florida during the presidential election recount in 2000.

O'Beirne, a former Army officer who is married to prominent conservative commentator Kate O'Beirne, did not respond to requests for comment.
....