Bush and his administration have developed a pattern of untrustworthiness on matters of national security. Many have emphasized the need for KE04 to hammer Bush on this, his strongest suit, the one Bush is banking on for re-election. Here's how I propose we do that successfully.
How can we trust this administration with national security when:
By no means is this a complete list of their confidence-killing actions. There are the more obvious ones too, which are already accepted -- the worst terrorist attack on our soil occurred on their watch (and they should be reminded -- this is not something to be proud of), they've failed to capture UBL/Zawahiri/Omar to date, and of course the biggie...lying us into a bloody and expensive war of aggression in Iraq. It seems that Kerry is already hammering this last particular point.
At various times, they've been "the most insidious of traitors" by outing Plame, shredded the Constitution by diverting war funds, shredded the Geneva Conventions in Abu Ghraib, politicized intelligence and terror alerts and hid abuses from the American people, while secretly building the legal precedent and physical infrastructure for gulag and lying us into a war...this needs to be tied into a coherent narrative. This is an overwhelming, very damning case just sitting there idle, waiting to be made.
IT'S THE PATTERN, STUPID!
They've done and said and allowed a lot of untrustworthy things. Their actions have not inspired much confidence in their ability to handle national security...and we need to flood the zone with their national security indiscretions and dropped balls -- we need to remind people that this is part of a pattern of untrustworthiness and incompetence. Rove's false advertising can be turned to a tremendous disadvantage if this meme takes hold. Their RNC speeches could ultimately be as embarrassing as the "Mission Accomplished" debacle if Bush is seen (correctly) as untrustworthy on national security.
The GOoPers know how to play this game. They know that voters don't necessarily accept the best explanation of a thing -- they often accept the FIRST explanation they hear.
They hammer Kerry by mischaracterizing Senate votes regarding weapons systems from a decade ago, creating a compelling narrative where there really is none. They get away with it because voters aren't familiar with Kerry's voting record. Retorting that "Cheney cut the F14D too!" isn't cutting it.
We need to counterpunch with a stronger meme, and I think this is it...this meme has the added benefit of being true. There's an undeniable pattern of untrustworthiness. We're missing an opportunity to give Bush the business they richly deserve -- give it back to them tenfold, and educate the voters on exactly what it is that makes Bushco so untrustworthy and incompetent. It's not enough to just say it....uninformed swing voters don't know what we political junkies know. Let's clue them in.
Tell them that the man circled here behind Laura is an Iranian double-agent, and Bush invited him:
The surrogates, the grassroots, the K/E '04 folks shouldn't miss one opportunity to hammer them on this pattern of abusing our trust on matters of national security and making indefensible decisions that don't inspire trust.
Someone mentions Plame, the conversation should go..."Plame, and Iranian spies in the Oval Office, and the Constitution shredded to divert Afghan War funds to Iraq, Geneva shredded at Abu Ghraib, Iran-Contra II in the Pentagon..." and on and on.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Don't get bogged down arguing one data point they can complicate. HIT THEM WITH BOTH BARRELS! ALL OF IT AT ONCE! Do it again and again. This pattern not only could be the conventional wisdom....it should be the conventional wisdom! Wash, rinse, repeat. Work the refs, write the press, spread this meme far and wide.
They can't defend against this, it eviscerates their strongest asset -- uninformed voters misplacing their trust with Bush on matters of national security.
The pattern is demonstrable, overwhelming and damning when taken as a whole, and above all....IT'S TRUE. Go to work.