Bush Tactic: "The 'Extreme' Left"

I realize this really isn't a new tactic but it appears the "new" thrust of the Bush media blitz is to portray Bush as a rational optimist and his detractors (Kerry included) as angry, "extreme" and "wild-eyed".

Bush's new campaign ad - June 24, 2004: Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed portrays angry, shouting men (Gore, Gephart, Moore, Dean...) and a swearing Kerry.

While discussing Moore's F-911 on NPR's The Diane Rhem show, Bill Kristol embraced the "new" tactic. In response to Eleanor Clift's assertion that the Bush family profited from its relationship with the House of Saud, Kristol dismissed Eleanor's statement and used the word "extreme" at least three times to refer to it, the language coming from the Left and the Left.  

My question to you, how do we counter this attempt to marginalize and dismiss our valid criticisms as extreme?  I'm reminded of what happened in the media pre-Iraq with regards to protests.  If we're dismissed as extreme or fringe, we're in danger of losing our audience.  What's our counteroffensive?

•  re:

  Respond back with the word extreme:

  Is it extreme to want a president that will gain millions of jobs instead of losing them?

  Is it extreme to want affordable heath care for all?

  Is it extreme to want our war dead to be brought back with honor and not in the darkened middle of the night shielded from cameras...

  etc. etc....

  by cookiesandmilk on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 08:50:43 AM PDT

•  Two answers

  1. Either the charges stick or they don't. The extreme charges against Bush stick.
  2. America is a country of liberals and conservatives. The leadership of the GOP acts as if only the conservatives count, and believes it can define conservative in a way that leaves out things like frugality, respect for precedents and honoring the rule of law. That is, in fact, the extreme position.

  by textus on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 08:57:02 AM PDT

•  after defending us

  attack them as extreme:

  Isn't it extreme to lie about threats to national security?

  Isn't it extreme to attack a country that has not attacked you?

  Isn't it extreme to expose a CIA agent as a means of intimidating a political opponent?

  Isn't it extreme to give the police almost unlimited power?

  I could go on for about a day, but you get my point.
  

  by brandonp on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 08:58:16 AM PDT

•  Play it again

  They pulled out that old, glue-factory bound, flea-bitten nag for another clop around the block?

  Yadda yadda...drug taking, libidinous, profligate, subversive, soft-on-defense, sell-out, traitorous, commie, French-loving, cat-owning, marijuana-cultivating, jazz-playing, porn-selling, cowardly, gender-bending, spouse-cheating, godless, drunken lefties...again?

  by paper tigress on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:07:11 AM PDT

•  I don't think this ad will have much effect

  The people who will buy into it are already Bush supporters and they're eagerly going to believe anything negative about Kerry & his crew.  Kerry supporters know the ad is bunk.  And this doesn't strike me as anything that will convince a swing voter to sign onto the Bush campaign.  In fact, the total lack of positive Bush ads may bite them in the posterior as they aren't convincing anyone to join up for the right reasons.

  by ssmt on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:09:15 AM PDT

•  New Commercial

  Title it Passion or Lies

  Show clips of that ad.

  Follow it with Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush lies about Al-Qaeda/9/11

  Voice on the screen says, would you rather have passion, or lies?

  It'd never happen, nor should it, but I'd like to see it.

  by Croatoan on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:11:02 AM PDT

•  I'm Afraid This Might Actually Work...

  ...if only for the sheer blitz of talking heads that'd be willing to feed this tripe to the public.

  This is gonna be a test of current dems' willingness to stand up.  The quickest, and most effecitve way to shoot this down is to stand up, support the so-called 'wild-eyed', and show that this isn't just a handful of 'extremists'.  It's time for some of the more weak-willed Dems to step up and take a risk for once.  Will they?  God, I hope so, because I fear for this country if Bush is allowed another term.

  by Kryptik on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:15:26 AM PDT

  •  Lieberman should do it

    Dean, Gore, and the rest have been strongly supporting Kerry.  Lieberman appears to have sulked off somewhere.  <TNR> Since the centrists are the ones who "really" care about the party while us liberals are just trying to hijack it, they've done the smart thing by completely remaining invisible throughout the campaign season</TNR>.  Gore and Dean have been sticking their necks out for the party, and risking their political capital in the process.  Lieberman or one of the other moderates could really help now.

    The media still respects the guy's "strong moral backbone".  If he were to defend the "wild eyed" ones, it would get some play.

    by ChicagoDem on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:25:22 AM PDT

•  I've noticed this

  There's probably some sort of fancy psychological term for this tactic (I call it confusionism) but I've noticed that the conservatives new tactic is to use accusations coming from the left against the left. Moore is a liar. Gore is an extremist.

  The big difference is that the left can back up their accusations with demonstrable facts, documents and film footage. The right only has rhetoric.

  Rhetoric will be enough for some but our counteroffensive is already underway with blogs, Air America, and Moore.

  by Rp on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:16:12 AM PDT

•  Another good reason

  For all demonstrators at the NY GOP Convention to dress 'The Gap'-style, have a hair cut, practice smiling, and just kinda gently meander about wearing a t-shirt that says "Bush sucks" and politely denouncing him to all passing journalists.

  by BleedingKnuckleLiberal on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:20:15 AM PDT

•  Bush's Idea Of Extreme Left Is Olympia Snowe

  and everybody knows that.  This nonsense should be easy to squash.  

  by LionelEHutz on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:34:23 AM PDT

•  What is extreme about...

  loving your democracy and being sickened by what these men have done?

  questioning your government about its response to the threat of terrorism?

  particpating in your self-government and questioning about why things are done in our name?

  asking your representatives to be held accountable for their actions?

  expecting your political leaders to respect our traditions of freedom and liberty?

  It all sounds pretty American to me.

  by carlton858 on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 09:36:51 AM PDT

•  how about

  We're Extremely irate about .... and list the evil doings of the Bush administration.  

  by Sedge on Fri Jun 25, 2004 at 11:33:09 AM PDT