(Please recommend this diary!)
With the election less than two months away, the GOP is getting desperate...and I think it will work assuming we continue sitting on our asses. Considering that the Republicans plan on a
smear campaign and the RNC plans on spending as much as $60 million to do it. On top of that, we have falling gas prices (and considering the correlation between prices ans Bush's job approval) we should expect the GOP to regain traction.
...And just how do we stop the Republicans from pulling it off yet again with their dirty tricks? The answer is simple: we run on NATIONAL SECURITY and SOCIAL SECURITY. We need to highlight Bush's failure on both of those issues.
National Security: The Republicans won in 2002 and 2004 because they convinced voters that Democrats could not be trusted to protect them against terrorism. Their rhetoric is always something along the lines as "the Democrat Party can't keep you safe from that dirty bomb that's gonna go off in your back yard!"
However, let's get the truth out: REPUBLICANS CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO KEEP YOU SAFE!
Here are some basic facts that Kossacks should know, and tell your Democratic Congress-critters and campaign consultants about:
-Bush let Bin Laden get away at Tora Bora in December of 2001
-Bush said in March of 2002 that Bin Laden is "not a top priority and he even said this again in the recent interview with Fred Barnes.
-Bush tried to sell our ports to Dubai Ports World
-Bush failed to look at the Hart-Ruddmann Report in January of 2001
-Bush shelved Operation Catcher's Mitt, an attempt to catch Bin Laden
-And the CIA's Bin Laden unit was also shut down.
-He cut explosives detection funding
-The person behind the 2001 Anthrax mailings is still on the loose
-The number of world-wide terror attacks has [
-In April 2001, Bush said that going after Bin Laden was a mistake and also stopped flying predator drone flights tracking Afghanistan, pre-9/11
-He also cut counterror funding pre-9/11 and post-9/11
-He's also received failing grades from the 9/11 Commission the same Commission that he flip flopped on supporting, and obstructed the commission's investigation into 9/11.
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...Now, onto Social Security. Despite getting his ass kicked on this issue in 2005, Bush wants to try again in 2007.
There are numerous examples of this that have been shown since June:
Last week, President Bush talked about overhauling Social Security and Medicare: "I'm going to continue to work with the Congress and call on the Congress to work with the administration to reform these programs."
On June 27, Bush told the Manhattan Institute, "If we can't get it done this year, I'm going to try next year."
...And his allies in Congress will support him:
That same month, Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), who's likely to chair the powerful House Ways and Means Committee if Republicans retain control of the House, said overhauling Social Security should be the top Congressional priority next year.
In July, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) declared, "If I'm around in a leadership role come January, we're going to get serious about this."
According to Campaign for America's Future, in the way of Senate races, each Republican incumbent or challenger in each competitive race (except for Chafee) supports or has flip flopped on privatization. If you are Bob Casey, Maria Cantwell, Jim Webb, Claire McCaskill, Sherrod Brown, Harold Ford, Jon Tester, Ben Cardin, or Bob Menendez, you MUST emphasize your opponent's stance on Social Security. Don't let weasels like Tom Kean Jr. or Mike McGavick get off the hook on this issue!
Josh Marshall is acting like Paul Revere on this issue, warning us about what Bush is doing. Let's not ignore the warnings!