I'm out there campaigning. I see the reactions of people to issues. I know what people are saying. And let me tell you, this assault by the GOP on "national security" is not an offensive, as every media outlet seems to be portraying. It's not an attack to bring an election onto favorable ground.
From the "Path to 9/11" to the Osama Been Forgotten Bin Laden speech by President Bush, the assault really is on. But it's not an offensive; it's a desperate defensive strategy to keep their party from near-collapse. It's the Battle of the Bulge, and they're the German Army.
More below the flip:
I could link to article after article, or cable news transcript after cable news transcript, describing the assault that the GOP is on. They talk about the party "turning the issues" toward national security. They describe it, show it,
spin it, as if this is some kind of offensive political strategy. The (usually implicit but occasionally explicit) message is that this is to move the election onto an issue that helps them, that this is a strategy designed to appeal to people in an area that is good for them. For one example, here's
the AP:
House Republicans, in danger of losing the majority they have held since 1995, were playing to their strength in focusing on security issues. "Now is not the time for a weak and indecisive approach that has been offered by Capitol Hill Democrats," said Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
But, when I campaign, I can see that the "national security" debate is turning against them very strongly. The debacle in the desert of Iraq has shown people the empty rhetoric of the GOP. Person after person in my district expresses their desire to me to change the course on our national security. And as Greg Sargent pointed out when he noticed that same article, recent polls show Democrats are favored nationally on doing "a better job protecting the country."
Because we are not secure. Our ports aren't secure and now ABC news find that tons of nitrogen fertilizer, the same that was used in the Oklahoma City Bombing can be stored only blocks from the White House. We are wasting billions of dollars fighting a war that has nothing to do with our security. George Bush spins the British success of uncovering the plot to blow up airplanes with liquid explosives as an excuse to illegally wiretap and mine data from every phone call we make. The truth of the matter is that Britain was successful because they cultivated human intelligence and did not resort to massive data mining that we all know is ineffective. This administration, with the support of my Republican opponent, now shamelessly uses the 9-11 disaster to disguise its failed security policies. Let me repeat, THE WAR IN IRAQ HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NATIONAL SECURITY and it has nothing to do with catching or preventing terrorists. We gave that up when Bush declared the he was "not that concerned about him (Bin Laden)." (March 2002 White House Briefing) As that Washington Post article made clear this morning, we lost our way on bringing terrorists to justice. If the New York State police can catch the likes of Bucky Phillips in the wilds of upstate New York, given the mission, the US Army can catch Bin Laden.
And the GOP knows that the Democrats are starting to take control on this issue. And that's why they are starting to fight so hard, so desperately on it. Because, and this is what I see in the desperation of the GOP, they know that if they lose this issue, their party is done. Kaput. Finished for a generation. They'll have no real hope of winning a national election for a couple of decades. National security is the absolute bedrock upon which their party is built, the one thing that ties together the fundamentalist base, the corporate elite, and the GOP-leaning swing voters into the 50.5% party they've been.
So they are pulling out all the stops in a last-ditch stand to save their party. And all Democrats, on blogs and running for office, should frame it that way. Our every utterance should stress that they are running scared, that they are trying to save their bacon, that they are desperately trying to stop the bleeding on this issue. No way should we even imply that this will work, no way should we show any fear or trepidation, no way should we let the assertion that they are "playing to their strength" go unchallenged.
Because we are winning. The Bolton nomination died. Specter's FISA-gutting bill was blocked. ABC/Disney is at the center of a firestorm of protest, destroying their credibility. It's time, to put it in blunt terms, to go for the kill, and, especially, to proudly proclaim that that's what we are doing.
This assault isn't going to work. The Washington Post reports today that the trail of Osama Bin Laden has "gone cold." CBS News's latest poll shows that only 14% think that they are "more safe" now than on September 11th. Focusing on September 11th ... well, it just looks like an aging lounge singer who's lost his voice trying to belt out the song that made him famous. It just shows how far he's fallen. As Bill Clinton says, "They've trotted that dog out for the last three elections - and it's got mange all over it."
Because, really, looking at September 11th at one moment while we see the carnage in Iraq the next just shows how far off-track we really are. Our foreign policy is the exact same foreign policy we'd have if Osama Bin Laden had never attacked that day. We're in a war in Iraq and saber rattling with Iran, while casting suspicious glances at Syria. Guess what? That's exactly what the neo-con crew was planning anyway! This has nothing to do with terrorism, and people now can sense it.
When I first ran two years ago, I was against the war in Iraq, but I could sense that I was pushing the limits of public opinion then. I didn't back down because I say what I believe, but I knew that it wasn't the issue where I had a real advantage. But now ... that's changed dramatically. National security is my issue in the campaign, as it is for Democrats across the country. The GOP is down, it is just about out, and it's time to finish off their phony "national security" credentials once and for all.
{I'm Bob Johnson and I'm running against do-nothing GOP foot-soldier John McHugh in New York's 23rd district. Contributions and volunteers accepted from all over the country ... you don't need to be in my district to volunteer}