I was watching Meet the Press this morning and Sen. Russ Feingold said something so profound, yet simple and clearly true, that it struck me like punch in the stomach.
While being interviewed by Tim Russert and discussing the Bush/Cheney strategy of "stay the course", "stand up stand down" and denouncing the Democrats for "cut and run" he said a truth so obvious and devastasting it stunned me with it's implications.
It wasn't something that hasn't been said before in one way or the other but he put it so succinctly that I couldn't help feeling it should included in every Democratic talking point on every possible occasion.
When asked about the Cheney's remark stating (paraphrase) "what the Democrats are proposing now is the absolute worst possible thing to do in Iraq", Sen. Feingold replied that one very strong reason that Bush and Cheney won't change course is because they (and the Republicans)would have to publicly admit they were WRONG ALL ALONG!
A very simple statement that has been said I'm sure before, but as he then continued on about how wrong they have been on almost every decision they've made in the war, etc...I was struck, "these guys really CAN"T ADMIT A MISTAKE!.
As Sen. Feingold continued to talk I realized my mind was still processing that previous statement and all that it meant.
I was thinking how true that statement most likely actually was and how absolutely cynical it made this Administration seem about the death and destruction it has wrought. DAMN!
If even in the smallest amount that statement is true; that this administration would let it's stubborn huberus, it's blatantly politically driven policy decisions decide that before the midterms it's politically expedient to keep Americans dying or else they'd have to admit they're wrong (they seem physically incapable of admitting their mistakes), it actually brought a negative physical visceral response in the pit of my gut!
"WOW! These guys are fucking without shame" I thought. The interview went on but I wasn't paying attention anymore, all I could do was run over in my mind how many times these guys have been soooo wrong and STILL won't admit making a mistake, no matter how obvious.
It's probably the single most understood trait of George Bush. He can't bring himself to admit he's been wrong, he just can't make himself do that.
Even when he tries (like in the press conference with Tony Blair when he said his foolish "bring it on" comment probably wasn't a great idea he deflected by saying he should have expressed himself in a more sophisticated way...as if there is a sophisticated way to tell the enemy to attack your troops) it is so rare a statement that it was on every news channel and newspaper the next day. "Bush admits a mistake!"
It's not like I hadn't heard it said before but I realized that if I thought about it for a moment, it seemed perfectly reasonable that Bush and Cheney would actually leave people in Iraq to die until after the mid-terms so the Republicans could assault the Democrats on being weak on National Security (Karl Rove knows it has worked well in the past)and then in December they could act like withdrawing troops was their idea all along.
Sitting there thinking about this made my anger start to build and it was accompanied by a revulsion of their cynicism and blatant political maneuvering about Iraq. It was physical! Emotional!!
So I recommend that whenever you find a TRUTH, that when said out loud, actually makes your opponents tactics or character seem so disgusting that it turns your stomach...then you have found an issue that will resonate with the voter.
A few examples;
1. Sen. Bill Frist saying that from simply watching a video that Terri Schiavo didn't seem to be, in his medical opinion, to be in a persistent vegetative state!
2. Rep. Jean Schmidt calling Rep. John Murtha a coward on the House floor in the now infamous "cowards cut and run" statement.
3. The ever popular Pres. Bush affirmation of Micheal Brown, head of FEMA, "...you're doing a great job Brownie!"
These things hit you in the gut and you remember them! You associate them to a person or group and it sticks! Just look at all the millage the "cut and run" slogan has given to the Republicans concerning withdrawing from Iraq.
My feeling is that by the Republicans characterizing the Democrats withdrawal plan as "cut and run" it strikes people in an emotional way and they respond in an emotional way. I postulate it will be the single hardest thing for the Democrats to overcome in getting people to consider their withdrawal plan as anything other than somehow cowardly!
NOT because it IS cowardly but just because associating their plan with a cowardly action it makes it distasteful emotionally and thus it won't be well received even if it is a perfectly sound idea logically.
People hate cowards and don't want to be seen as cowardly! So the Democrats have an uphill battle there...
But people also hate bullies and stubborn assholes who push their way around and will do anything to avoid admitting their wrong.
As soon as the public finally realized that Pres.Bush wasn't being resolute by staying the course but rather just arrogant and stubborn his personal approval ratings began to plummet, and the more stubborn he seemed the less credible his rationale for going to war seemed because it simply looks like he's justifying his actions, after the fact, with lies.(which he is..!)
So I say, in every interview, in front of a camera or in print, in which any Democrat has the opportunity to bring up the war, then I think we should try to harden the idea in the voters minds that this administration is keeping our sons and daughters in harms way in a war they cannot win, simply because he is afraid he'd have to admit he was wrong all along...
Sounds too easy? Maybe...but I know it makes me sick to my stomach to think that's how low, my President, leader of America and the free world, would stoop to justify his stupid idealogical decision to go to war with Iraq!! I bet America has the same reaction too!