Rove has suggested the Republican Party run the election in 2006 on Mr. Bush's war presidency. I hope Democrats take him up on the challenge. If the Democrats can't explain to the American public that Mr. Bush's has been a failure as war president, then we don't deserve to win. His war record isn't his strength, it is his weakness.
Mr. Bush's war has been a failure at virtually every level. Costs in excess of $300 billion (costs estimates now exceed $2 trillion) to destabilize a region and oil prices, allow thousands of Americans to be killed and injured, compromise our civil liberties, and diminish my country's standing in the world. And, worse of all, bin Laden is still alive and broadcasting. How can any objective person conclude that Mr. Bush has done a good job on the war on terror? The guy who started the whole think is still alive and I just heard him on the radio. Talk about not getting your money's worth.
Now, the Democratic theme shouldn't just be that Mr. Bush is a failed war president, for that isn't enough. We need to show that his "war presidency" failure is just another example of all his failures. So, the second part of the Democratic defenses should be that the Republican Party has sat around and allowed Mr. Bush to let our country fail not only in the "war on terror" but in virtually everything else. One need not go into detail now as his failures are voluminous, but the point should be made that if Republicans retain the power they currently have then say good by to social security, say good by to Medicare, say good by to public education, say good by to pensions, etc. In short, instill some fear into people that the present course Mr. Bush and a Republican Congress is taking us over the cliff. Perhaps a picture of a Bush look alike dressed up like the Pied Piper of Hamlin leading his countrymen - some of whom are dressed like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly and others dressed with sashes on them reading "Social Security" and "Medicare" over a cliff followed by an announcer saying something along the lines of "America, we need to put a stop to this. Vote Democratic."
So, let them call us liberals, let them call us soft on terror, let them call us un-patriotic. Who cares what they say. To paraphrase General Grant, forget about what they are going to do to you and instead think about what you are going to do to them.