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| Home Front: Politix |
| White House rejects call for Iraq pullout |
| 2005-06-17 |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 badanov - while it's true that the left has been effective in undermining the WH, I believe that the President has not taken advantage of his bully pulpit to speak directly to Americans - he is very popular personality to Americans ( both left and right) and even though he is not as articulate as Cheney or Rice, Bush is far more believable and likeable than either ... when he speaks naturally ( and not just reciting tired speech writers lines - eg. "we'll leave Iraq when the mission is accomplished" boring ), he can be very persuasive. Talking about SS and immigrant guest worker cards is not what Americans want to hear now. That's why they're losing patience and confidence in the war - they see no leadership trying to connect with them on the subject,and to allay their fears and pessimism. If the President could give American voters some numbers, for example, about down sizing US military in Iraq, I believe that would be a big help. This wishy washy "no deadline" for pull out has everyone on edge. As for the WH line that pull out schedules would give comfort to "the enemy" - why is that? - the enemy should get much more worried if they know the coalition forces will be handing over Iraq to the Kurdish Peshema and Shiite soldiers/militia on Jan. 1, 2007. No Geneva Convention nicey nicey Western troops to walk softly around civil rights. No Int'l Red Cross invited to inspect the jails to see if "POW's" are getting 3 squares and nightly prayer readings from the immams. Also, a definite date might make the locals perk up and apply themselves QUICKLY to building a fighting force if they knew the bottom might fall out of their "democracy" unless they started standing up to the "insurgents/foreign fighters" in their neighborhoods. Geez, all Iraqis have many weapons in their homes - what's with the cowering in their broom closets and allowing the bad guys to run amok in their streets? The GOP politicians are just responding to what the polls are telling them that American voters are thinking about the Iraq War. And the polls are not good from left wing polls to right wing polls- the results are either very bad or lukewarm bad - no ringing endorsement of the Iraq War. Many of the GOP politicians are up for re-election in 2006, not Cheney not Rice. The President could try to use the power of his likeable personality and SOME NEW IDEAS to get the American public on board again about the Iraq War to help the skittish GOP politicians win the 2006 elections. It ain't going to be pretty if the GOP loses seats in Congress in 2006. |
| Posted by: Thotch Glesing2372 2005-06-17 14:19 |
| #3 Karl Rove is asleep at the wheel. You're telling me that in all the active, reserve, and National Guard, there is no one nearing their 20, has had an Iraq tour, has combat scars, with a clean record and wants 'to serve'? If the state and national party organizations would get their heads out of their respective rectal orifices, they'd be recruiting these servicemembers to run for office in the next election cycle. Since public trust of the military is at an all time high the the politicians wading around below swamp level, the best opportunity since the end of WWII for a new crop of representatives to be sent to Washington is presenting itself. When the opponent presents you with an opportunity like this, you exploit it because they can never recover from it. |
| Posted by: Snetle Tholurong5083 2005-06-17 08:36 |
| #2 The headline is not as bad as the free paper in DC, which headlined it as "Congress " wanted a pullout, but when you read on, it's four folks. Out of ...um ... 435 Representatives. Yeah, they speak for Congress. So "Call" seems more fair, but "whine" would've been more accurate. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-06-17 07:40 |
| #1 I'm telling you, folks. The left is pulling out all the stops for a run for the senate in 2006. They are doing their dead level best to stampede incumbent republicans into pissing off their own base. They have got to be making calls to as many rinos as they can to get them nervous. The left knows if they can do that, they can cause conservatives to stay home, especially in light of gains by republicans. The left knows that kowtowing to the antiwar left culd be a political disaster for conservatives. We have to remind out senators that we should be controllng the agenda, not the left. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-06-17 04:37 |