Remember earlier this year when Karl Rove told all the Republicans to "stay the course"? He told them all to continue strongly supporting the Iraq War despite all the polls that suggested the American public was turning away. He suggested that instead of cedeing their greatest weakness that the GOP instead embrace Iraq and disable the Democrats' strongest argument for change. This was when "cut and run" became a popular catch phrase.
You may remember Rove executing this strategy against John Kerry with the "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth" sham.
Welcome to the fall of Karl Rove.
http://www.cnn.com/...
Well, maybe I'm being dramatic. This may not be the fall of Karl Rove, but it is certainly a complete 180 from "stay the course" (both 'in' Iraq and 'about' Iraq).
CNN reports that the Bush administration is going to refocus their frame for this election: instead of an election about supporting Iraq and the War on Terror, the President is going to shift his focus to the ECONOMY. The GOP played the "terror" issue "successfully" in 2002 and 2004. They tried making Iraq and Terrorism the strategy for success in 2006. But with just 2 weeks before the election, they have realized they need to change their message to the economy.
The article cites upbeat economic news, including stabilizing interest rates, 12,000 point DOW, and cheaper gas prices. Here is a poll comparing the President's approval on Iraq versus his approval on the economy:
The AP-Ipsos poll this month found that 37 percent of likely voters say they approve of Bush's handling of Iraq overall. Forty-two percent approve of his handling of the economy.
I interpret this as a sign of desperation. 37% approve of his handling on Iraq (the same number that approves of his job performance too by the way) and the economy only scores 5% better. 42% is NOT a stellar number... not by a long shot. Voters still trust Democrats to handle the economy more than Democrats. I would speculate that the GOP thinks that it can score some of these points away from the Dems by pointing out the uptick in the economy.
It's a smart strategy, but in my opinion this shows how desperate the Bush administration is and how poorly they have fumbled this election.