Monday, October 23, 2006

As Their Election Apocalypse Approaches, Busheviks' "If We Say it, it Must Be True" Strategy is No Longer Working


Propaganda: The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.

For the past six years the primary Rovian/Mehlman strategy has been to have the Puppet-in-Chief, his cabinet, the GOP leadership and the vast right-wing media conspiracy robotically stay on message and spread the propaganda. Say something often enough, and it eventually becomes the truth. Whether it's the Iraq war, terrorism, the economy or "compassionate conservatism," their mantra has been, "are you gonna believe me or your lyin' eyes?" But this time, with the critical midterm elections just 15 days away and facing a House and Senate meltdown, the strategy's not working. The propaganda parade is over, and the Rove/Mehlman float has been deflated.

For months now, even the staunchest conservatives have bailed ship on the Busheviks. The Republican leadership has deserted the president, and incumbents seeking re-election have avoided him like the plague. But you gotta hand it to him. He's still out there beating the drum, playing the role of "optimist-in-chief", as the New York Times reported Monday.

In a pathetic last-ditch effort to lift spirits, RNC chair Ken Mehlman and the Busheviks conducted a "friends and allies" teleconference last week to counter the gloom and doom that's spread throughout the party. Mehlman and White House political director Sara Taylor held a 20-minute rah-rah session that those in attendance--including pundits, lobbyists, donors and GOP aides and supporters--referred to as "happy talk."

Their goal here in the final days of a sinking campaign is to once again ignore the facts and the reality on the ground. Forget what all the bi-partisan analysts are saying. Forget what the polls indicate. Forget Iraq, Katrina, massive debt, gas prices, stagnant wages, corruption and scandal, and all the other Bushevik catastrophes. Mehlman's edict? Don't discuss the bad news, and keep telling 'em everything's great and that we're gonna win on Nov 7. Keep saying it. Often. And they'll believe you.

But many of the president's most loyal supporters and allies have lost hope. On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, conservative columnist Robert Novak predicted Democrats will pick up 20-25+ seats to take control of the House (they need 15), and said at least four Senate Seats--Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Missouri--"are locks." It should be noted that Sen. Bob Menendez in New Jersey and challenger Jon Tester in Montana hold big leads over Republicans Tom Kean Jr. and Sen. Conrad Burns respectively. The Dems need six wins to take control of the Senate.

Even the Kool-Aid pushin' Mary Matalin confessed, "I'm in my stoic mode now." And when Matalin bails, that's pretty telling. Perhaps hubby James Carville finally knocked some sense into her.

The tension is so thick in the White House that Bush has even resorted to taking on Pappy. In an interview Sunday on ABC News, Junior was asked what he thought about Senior saying that he hated to think what the next two years would be like for his little boy if those big bad Dems regained control of Congress. "He shouldn't be speculating like that, because he should have called me ahead of time, and I'd tell him they're not going to." Wah, wah, wah....

Also over the weekend, in what is now the coup-de-grace in the Busheviks' failed propaganda campaign, Bush told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that "We've never been stay the course, George!" after the host asked him about James Baker's claim that "stay the course" is no longer an option for the U.S. in Iraq.

So there you have it. Since 2003 we've been hearing the president say "stay the course" ad infinitum. And now he's saying he never said it. Well, I guess that must be true then too, huh?

17 comments:

David said...

It is always the big lies that work.

Anonymous said...

God help us all!

They still have their play book of fix the voting machines and use dirty tactics to suppress the vote.

I do not trust them one bit.

Why does Bush keep saying that the GOP will hold both the House and Senate?

What does he know that we don't?????

Anonymous said...

I'm with 10:19. He KNEW he was going to be elected President. Jeb was seeing to that. It's tne same "feel" now when he speaks optimistically.

Anonymous said...

The BIGGER the lie, the more people will believe it.

YES! The voting machines, I'm afraid, will be hacked again and no matter what the polls say the GOP pulls out another one.

How much more of this crap can we take from these Republicans?

Anonymous said...

Just saw one of the GOP fear tactic ads for the mid-term elections. I have to say it just made me more determined to get them out of power in Congress. Only nine more days for an October Surprise. Maybe Rove can pull off the rapture so the evangelicals will be more interested in voting for the party that jerked them around.

Otherwise, it's the Big L on the forehead time for Georgie's partners in crime.

Cranky Daze said...

Bush's bravado is a classic case of whistling past the graveyard. A lot of Republicans appear to be trying to accept the inevitable, but Glorious Leader seems to feel obliged to at least make an effort to rally the faithful, and ignore the sense of doom and gloom that gets heavier by the day, and sometimes by the hour.

Rove has two weeks to come up with his October Surprise, and lacking that, the only thing I can see that is going to save the Republican majority in Congress is some serious vote tampering, phone-jamming, and get a few thousand more letters threatening prison to immigrants who have registered as Democrats. The question on that is whether or not the Democrats are finally going to do something to stop the cheating that has gone on in the last 2 presidential elections. And I'm not at all confident that they are.

Still, it's interesting the way things are playing out as we approach the big day. Things have been going downhill for the Republicans for a long time, but their troubles have really escalated in the past few weeks. As far as I can tell, the Dems are being astonishingly quiet about it all, which makes me wonder if they have at last out-sneaked the sneaky, and have nothing left to do except sit back and watch the Republicans self-destruct.

Anonymous said...

My mom, a senior citizen, the other day received a phone call telling her she could vote by phone and didn't have to go to the polls physically.

She tried to pry information out of them, but didn't get any - so she called the local lead for the Dems and told them - they said her call was the 2nd they had received about it.

I used to be a middle of the road voter, voting for whom I believe would do the best job regardless of party. Now I'm voting all Dems - I can't see giving these chumps any more opportunities... it is a sad state of affairs.

Anonymous said...

I too am voting ONLY for the Dems but I have one question. Since LIEberman lost the primary did he ever change his affiliation to Independent? If he did change then he’ll have to start all over in senate committees, correct? Would he not be then be thought of as a rookie in a 3rd party? If he did not change to Indie the question remains how can two people still be running for the same office and stay in the say party, why have a primary election then.

The word on the internet (blogs) is that even if LIEberman wins he could switch parties and swing the control of the Senate back to the Republicans. I have no use for him or McPain and I think voters are going to find both to be turn-coats.

Anonymous said...

What can we do if all the polls show a Repub loss and the Dems end up loosing?

We should take to the streets and scream like crazy.

Otherwise we can just quietly sit back and accept the stolen election again.

Anonymous said...

Democrats will lose again. Republicans cut taxes and create good economy. Democrats lie to get votes then laugh at the people that vote them into office and say " They voted me in office now were going to raise taxes and take their money ha ha,
i am in power now, I outsmarted everyone, makes me feel GOOD!!!"

Anonymous said...

Do not take 6:13pm's post as truth.
It is just the mad ranting of a kool-aid drinker with no facts to back up the post.

Good economy, yeah right. Tax cuts that only last until 2010. Yeah right.

So much energy could be better spent in making a difference than in spewing GOP crap on a blog.

Anonymous said...

October 25, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - President Bush said yesterday that overconfident Democrats who are already "measuring the drapes" for their move into power on Capitol Hill will have the rug pulled out from under them on Election Day.

"The Democrats have made a lot of predictions. Matter of fact, I think they may be measuring the drapes," Bush said yesterday to laughs at a Sarasota, Fla., fund-raiser for GOP House hopeful Vern Buchanan.

"If their electoral predictions are as reliable as their economic predictions, Nov. 7th is going to be a good day for the Republicans."

The president added, "One of the reasons that the Democrats will lose on Election Day: Because they want to raise your taxes. No, I know they don't want to tell it that plainly, but that's what they're going to do."

Bush's riff on Democrats measuring drapes for their new offices as the majority party in Congress - a full two weeks before Election Day - was a veiled slap at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. She recently quipped that as House speaker, "I'll have any [office] suite I want."

Bush kept the partisan Florida crowd giggling as he mocked Pelosi's voting record on his tax proposals.

"You know, the top Democrat leader in the House made an interesting statement recently. She said, 'We love tax cuts.' Given her record, she must be a secret admirer," Bush said.

"When we cut taxes on everybody that paid income taxes, she and her colleagues - most of her colleagues - voted against it.

"Time and time again, she had an opportunity to show her love for taxes. If this is the Democrats' idea of love, I wouldn't want to see what hate looks like," he quipped.

Bush also slapped at Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who is poised to take control of the powerful Ways and Means Committee if the Democrats win the House.

He charged Rangel "couldn't think of one of our tax cuts he would extend."

"See, they're genetically disposed to raise your taxes," Bush added.

Anonymous said...

I am astounded that Americans believe you can have something for nothing. Taxes are the income for keeping America as we know it going -- paying for army equipment, paying for wars, paying for education, roads, and God help us , paying the salaries of our elected officials. Taxes pay for the life of our country. Why and how did taxes get to ge such a bad idea? Just because Bush is a rich kid and had everything paid for him, he surely must know by now money is needed to run the government. Unless, of course, he's trying to destroy the government by starvation and give all the government reponsibility to the Ken Lays who can rob us of OUR life's money.

He sure does a good job of picking out drapes. I remember his to-do over the rug in the oval office. He's so domesticated.

Anonymous said...

Democrats have never seen a tax they don't like. Democrats will raise your taxes.

Anonymous said...

I'm am Independent who will vote for the Democrats. I welcome taxes. I understand that taxes remain MY money paying for MY needs. The government isn't taking my money I"m paying the government for all the services, benefits, and protection I and all Americans get with their taxes. Shame on those of you who want something without paying.

Anonymous said...

shame on the top 1% of taxpayers, for they only pay 50% of all the taxes.

shame on the bottom 50% of America, for they pay Zero taxes.

Anonymous said...

10:32 Are you saying fifty percent of our citizens are so poor that they don't pay any taxes? Do you realize how serious that is? We ARE NOT A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. It's time to get this administration OUT and get our jobs back. Americans want to work and PAY TAXES. Or, are you talking about the escessively huge huge number of number of illegal immigrants as the bottom 50% who pay no taxes because the corrupt reputlican corporations won't put them on the books, don't contribute to their health care and don't pay living wages, but simply rake up profits, some of which they pay a small amount of taxes. And look what the corporations get in return -- the whole Republican administration in their pockets doing their bidding. A small price for them to pay.