Dems Must Counter GOP Strategy of Bashing Bush

Following a Sunday where he called for the repeal of Roe Vs. Wade, and gave young people advice on abstinence which he himself did not follow, today John McCain treated a group of seniors to this:

"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," McCain said to applause...

But what did he say last year when Rumsfeld resigned?

"While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans' respect and gratitude for his many years of public service."

When the Rubber-stamp Republicans ran congress they did little to reign Rumsfeld in. Could this be the beginning of a Republican strategy to run against the Bush administration? And if so, what do we do to combat this?

Don't blink, but the GOP may in fact try to run against the Bush/Cheney administration, both in congressional reelections and for the presidency in '08.

McCain claims that he has been a constant critic of Rumsfeld and the war plan for Iraq, and to a degree that's true. But most often, his criticisms have taken this tone:

I have said, as long ago as nearly three years ago, when I was asked if I had confidence in Secretary Rumsfeld, I said I did not.  I was asked if he should resign.  I said no, that‘s up to the president. Elections have consequences, the president picks his team, and the president has the right to stay with that team if he wants to.

Why didn't McCain, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee do more when the Republicans controlled congress to fix the war effort? If Rumsfeld's management has been so bad and so misguided as McCain has pointed out, why did the Republicans rubber-stamp every decision made by the administration for the last 6 years?

And this goes for other issues as well.

Why did Sen. Pat Roberts and the Republicans Fail To Conduct A Thorough Phase II Investigation "to fully answer the "critical questions surrounding the use of intelligence in the months leading up to the war?"

Why did the Republicans refuse to investigate Iraq War abuses and why have they failed to provide oversight on everything from Iraq, to Katrina, to Medicare to Dick Cheney's secret energy meetings?

Now that the electorate has turned against the Republicans and the Bush administration, some in the GOP are finally growing the cojones to do (or at least say) what they should have been doing all along: reigning in this rogue presidency.

If they didn't stop it when they had the power to why should we believe them now? It's simply transparent that they are running from the administration to save their own skins. And we have to make sure the voting public knows this.

It's our job and the Dem's job to call this out as Bullshit each time it occurs. Dem's who voted for the war and have since admitted it was a mistake help our cause because it puts pressure on GOP candidates to do the same.

And now that Democrats are beginning to investigate and provide oversight, the GOP is going to try to call foul by saying it's political. Our counter argument is that if the Repubs had bothered to do any investigating or oversight at all when they had power, that it wouldn't be necessary now. The only way we give Republican congress members a free ride on this is if they agree to go all the way with us...and that means impeachment, baby. But until then we call them out on it.

We do a pretty good job of branding this as Bush's war. But we can't let the GOP use the same tactic to the extent that they extricate themselves from responsibility. They are going to try to shift blame on this war to Democrats after the next election. But before they can do that, they may try to couch it as Bush's mistakes, but not the party's.  The truth is they've had the power to reshape it, to fix it, to stop it for 3 years now. And they haven't. They are just as culpable as the administration.

Our job is not to let the public forget it.