[cross posted at Frameshop -JF]
The list of elected Democrats willing to admit that they made a 'mistake'--when they voted to give President Bush the power to invade Iraq--is growing.
It may not seem that a 'mea culpa' approach would be very effective, but strangely...it seems to be working.
Here is a suggestion to turn these simple 'my bad' statements by Democrats into a major media event...
Evidence that the 'mistake' frame from Democrats--is currently defining
the debate on Iraq comes from none other than President Bush himself,
who will launch, today, a new PR effort claiming that Democrats also
believed there were WMDs in Iraq.
It may sound like the latest round of 'did-not-did-too' political
debate (eg., "I did not." "You did, too." "Did not!" "Did, too!" "Not!"
"Too!" "Nuh, uh!" "Yuh, huh!" "Nuh!" "Yuh!" etc.), but it does seem
that by admitting their votes were a mistake, the Democrats are
reinforcing the powerful idea that the White House deceived the
public--that the war was 'sold' through marketing and manipulation,
rather than planned.
And the White House has been trapped by this argument.
To turn these simple 'my bad' confessions by Democrats into a major media event:- Over the next week, to hold the debate on Iraq, Democratic
Senators should march out two to three Senators each day who admit that
their vote was a mistake.
- These announcements should be scheduled and regular, three per day, at 9am, 12pm and 3pm.
- The announcements should last as long as possible.
- Each day this happens, the media will be dominated by this message.
- "I made a mistake" is all the Democrats need to say. They they can talk about the deception of the White House.
This would be an amazing event, to have one Senator stand up after another, like clockwork, to admit they made a mistake.
In a matter of hours, this will be the major story, the White House PR scheme will be deflated, the American people will once again be focused on the lies of the President and the Vice President.
And with that focus, the Democrats can lead the country out of the mess in Iraq.
© 2005 Jeffrey Feldman