In order to prevent the Rovian plan of elevating Mr. Bush to a position of "nice-speak" while Cheney and other henchmen slash and burn good men's reputations, we must in turn elevate the public perception of Mr. Cheney and other attackers to Oval Office spokesmen.
We let McClellan off the hook a few days back when he told the press corps that they would have to ask the vice-president's office about his comments because the Oval Office has its own agenda. When Rove is able to separate Bush from the pack of attack dogs, they have acheived a winning dynamic.
For instance, Cheney attacked Murtha in bare-knuckled fashion by questioning the man's courage and "backbone." Bush was on TV this morning expressing a quiet respect for Murtha and his position. Murtha gets attacked by the White House but Bush has no blood on his hands. Even the contrast between Cheney and Bush hleps them both. Bush appears as an effective executive, Cheney looks like a hockey thug trading blows for his team. This is a foundational element of the Rove environment. The press will not deconstruct it.
Democrats must.
The primary lever in separating the Republicans from this ploy is to continually attribute Mr. Cheney's and Mr. Bush's remarks to the White House. Equate the two. Elevate Cheney, demote Bush. We must equate these men and their remarks. Let not even a sliver of daylight between them.
Avoiding accountability is a priamry axiom of Republican strategy today. When we attach as many of the dirty smears from the Republicans as we can to the leader of the party, the President, we will succeed in preventing him from dodging responsibility for the attacks. Elevate all remarks that benefit the president by attributing them to eminating from his leadership. McCain gave Bush an out on the Swiftboating of Kerry. Democrats must be diligent this time in hemming him into the camp of vile disrespect that his party utilizes for his advantage, and then extrapolating the failure of policy and the vileness of ploy to all Republicans that have supported his reign.
This strategy is a requirement for winning 06' and 08'. Allowing the strategy of identifying the President with respectable qualities and accomplishments while separating him from failure and malicious behavior will make the going much harder than it needs to be for Dems. Many successful tactical programs can be generated when the President is identified with the violent and wreckless attacks of the Republican Party and its functionaries, and Republicans across the country are tainted by party leadership and infected with the party image.