This morning, Senator Pat Leahy got it right in his response to the White House's asserting of executive privilege over the USAGate subpoenas:
"This is a further shift by the Bush Administration into Nixonian stonewalling..."
This is something we need to see more of. The Nixon comparison is devastatingly effective when used against the Bush Administration. Follow me after the jump to see why...
Most people who even slightly follow politics know that Nixon resigned in shame (it's probably the ONLY thing most people know about him). Branding Bush with the Nixon meme is the easiest and most effective way to communicate how bad things have gotten with this administration, especially with respect to Constitutional powers.
There are countless parallels to draw from: illegal wiretapping, subversion of the DOJ, Cheney, Fielding, stonewalling subpoenas, overreaching on executive privilege, "if the president does it, it's not illegal," amongst others.
In the minds of most voters, there are NO positive associations to be had with Nixon. I don't think it's possible for the administration to refute or spin the comparison. Refuting it would mean shitting on another Republican president that employed a good portion of the current administration's brain trust.
The beauty of the Nixon meme is that it's simple enough for even the MSM to understand, repeat, and run with. It's a softball message for them to bat around during the dog days of the slow news cycle summer.
Bush = Nixon. Run with it.