Dems once again fail to find unified message on Iraq

Afraid of looking soft on terror, some Dems are expressing concerns that the loud chorus of antiwar remarks by top Dems like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Howard Scream, er, Dean, will hurt the party going into next year’s elections:

Strong antiwar comments in recent days by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have opened anew a party rift over Iraq, with some lawmakers warning that the leaders’ rhetorical blasts could harm efforts to win control of Congress next year.

Several Democrats joined President Bush yesterday in rebuking Dean’s declaration to a San Antonio radio station Monday that “the idea that we’re going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong.”

The critics said that comment could reinforce popular perceptions that the party is weak on military matters and divert attention from the president’s growing political problems on the war and other issues. “Dean’s take on Iraq makes even less sense than the scream in Iowa: Both are uninformed and unhelpful,” said Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), recalling Dean’s famous election-night roar after stumbling in Iowa during his 2004 presidential bid.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), the second-ranking House Democratic leader, have told colleagues that Pelosi’s recent endorsement of a speedy withdrawal, combined with her claim that more than half of House Democrats support her position, could backfire on the party, congressional sources said.

These sources said the two leaders have expressed worry that Pelosi is playing into Bush’s hands by suggesting Democrats are the party of a quick pullout — an unpopular position in many of the most competitive House races.

“What I want Democrats to be discussing is what the president’s policies have led to,” Emanuel said. He added that once discussion turns to a formal timeline for troop withdrawals, “the how and when gets buried” and many voters take away only an impression that Democrats favor retreat.

Perhaps because some of them, namely the party ‘leader’, do indeed favor retreat.

And some of ’em – like Senator John Kerry (see update in that post) just want to emphasize how much terror US troops are allegedly causing in Iraq (old habits die hard, I guess).

Scary to think that both of these guys wanted to become president. Thank God neither of them saw that dream fulfulled. The war in Iraq hasn’t gone perfectly by far (no war, in fact, ever has) but the man who vowed (and continues to vow) to stay the course thankfully got re-elected, which is reassuring to those of us who want us to WIN this war, but unfortunately not reassuring to those who think we can’t – aka the “Defeaticrats” in DC. Perhaps that (D) stands for “Defeat” eh?

I can’t imagine a US President who has troops in harms way talking about how the men and women in his military “terrorize” Iraqi women and children or even worse, how we “can’t win” there. Sounds to me like a few Dems in DC are starting to realize that message doesn’t play well with the American people, either.

BTW, the President’s numbers are up – in a NYTimes poll of all things. Dems: the Prez appears to be on the comeback trail (click here for more). Ya’ll better get it together or what’s happened to you guys since 1994 will continue to happen.

(Cross-posted at California Conservative)

More: Jeff Goldstein weighs in on the defeatist Dems.

Even more via Tom Maguire and Rick Moran at Rightwing Nuthouse.

26 Responses to "Dems once again fail to find unified message on Iraq"

Gina Cobb says:

December 7, 2005 at 7:53 pm

Howard Dean’s Bizarre Plan to Win Iraq War: Move Troops to a “Friendly Neighboring Country”?

An interesting post today at Captain’s Quarters about Howard Dean’s bizarre plan to win (or surrender?) the Iraq war: What The Media Ignored From Howard Dean. Here’s an excerpt:Yesterday, the leader of the major American opposition party called the …
National Institute for Truth and Freedom says:

December 7, 2005 at 8:46 pm

What side do the democrats work for?
CavalierX says:

December 7, 2005 at 9:56 pm

“D is for Defeat” — LOL!
scmommy says:

December 7, 2005 at 10:06 pm

I might be wrong, but it looks to me like the democratic party may be trying to commit a slow form of suicide. They keep rattling off these idiot statements and have no plan for anything. How can anyone take them seriously. I wish they would start talking some sense – this country needs a 2 party system. As it stands right now, you can’t even have a decent debate with them – they really have no answers/solutions on anything and can only offer insults to anyone who questions them.
Brian says:

December 7, 2005 at 11:02 pm

I like how Sister Toldjah is outraged at even the slightest criticism of any of the president’s policies in Iraq but brushes over the president’s countless mistakes and poor decisions as if they were nothing unusual:

“The war in Iraq hasn’t gone perfectly by far (no war, in fact, ever has)”

This war has probably been more poorly planned and carried out than any war in our nation’s history. Many of the things that have gone wrong were foreseeable and could have been prevented but were not. It is hard to image how John Kerry could have done any worse.

The History News Network at George Mason University has just polled historians informally on the Bush record. Of the 415 historians who responded, 338 said they believed Bush was failing, while 77 said he was succeeding. Fifty said they thought he was the worst president ever.

LINK

This is what those historians said — and it should be noted that some of the criticism about deficit spending and misuse of the military came from self-identified conservatives — about the Bush record:

– He has taken the country into an unwinnable war and alienated friend and foe alike in the process;

– He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;

– He has deliberately and dangerously attacked separation of church and state;

– He has repeatedly “misled,” to use a kind word, the American people on affairs domestic and foreign;

– He has proved to be incompetent in affairs domestic (New Orleans) and foreign (Iraq and the battle against al-Qaida);

– He has sacrificed American employment (including the toleration of pension and benefit elimination) to increase overall productivity;

– He is ignorantly hostile to science and technological progress;

– He has tolerated or ignored one of the republic’s oldest problems, corporate cheating in supplying the military in wartime.
Sister Toldjah says:

December 7, 2005 at 11:07 pm

“I like how Sister Toldjah is outraged at even the slightest criticism of any of the president’s policies in Iraq”

Lie #1.

“but brushes over the president’s countless mistakes and poor decisions as if they were nothing unusual:”

Lie #2.

Your posts are not worth my time to respond to, Brian, because you constantly create strawmen to tear down. Try reading what I actually write sometime, instead of giving me and the rest of the people here your spinning knee-jerk reactions to it. I honestly think sometimes you don’t even read what I write. That’s ok, even though I don’t have the patience to painstakingly deconstruct your strawman arguments, others here thankfully do.
scmommy says:

December 7, 2005 at 11:38 pm

Brian, I have to agree with ST, it is not worth my time to point out the obvious flaws in your argument. READ ST’s post, think about it, THEN write something worth reading. Otherwise, you make debate just way to easy and boring.
Baklava says:

December 7, 2005 at 11:40 pm

Your welcome 😛

Brian wrote, “This war has probably been more poorly planned and carried out than any war in our nation’s history.

See my last post to the comment section of ST’s 12/1 post…. The Pentagon plans and carries out the war. Your complain is irrelevant AGAIN. John Kerry would’ve done some legal action against …. the hijacker’s families? Saddam would’ve been in power still? Which is funny as heck beccause your comment in ST’s 12/1 post said that you think the world is better off that Saddam is not in power… (wouldn’t’ve happened if Kerry was in power)

Historian input with lack of perspective on economics (displaying Brian’s lack of knowledge on economics), “– He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;– He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;

Funny thing is that taxes were reduced for all income tax payers and the revenues and the economy (thus revenues) have increased dramatically since the recession that WASN’T caused by the tax cuts but by other factors including Y2K ramp down in IT spending and 9/11. That historian should be FIRED for such easily deconstructed opinion.

Brian wrote, “– He has deliberately and dangerously attacked separation of church and state;

That one isn’t in the constitution or the Declaration of Independence or any of the founding documents. Some people believe there is a “separation of church and state” but they are …..mistaken

Brian wrote, “– He has repeatedly “misled” to use a kind word, the American people on affairs domestic and foreign;

Please enlighten us Brian (for the 50th time) when did he mislead? When he was reporting what intelligence agencies told him? When he said the same things other Democrats said about Iraq or about the U.S economy? Do you know fact from opinion? Did you take Critical Thinking in college Brian?

Brian wrote, “– He has proved to be incompetent in affairs domestic (New Orleans)

Was Bush incompetent when the American Red Cross (under FEMA) was denied by the Louisiana Department of Health Services REPEATEDLY from delivering food and water to the Convention Center in NO? Was Bush incompetent when (as Ray Nagin reported) that Blanco refused to make up her mind about the leadership position for over 24 hours when in Air Force One? Your post is SO full of obsessive INCORRECT focus of accusation sthat I’d say it should be removed due to it’s lack of responsibility… good thing for you you were simply repeating opinions from historian who don’t know “law” or “economics” or what the revenues are and when the recessions started and ended and for what reasons and who is in charge of city evacuations.

Brian wrote, “ – He has sacrificed American employment (including the toleration of pension and benefit elimination) to increase overall productivity; Has something changed from the Clinton administration? What law in your “opinion ” Brian has been not enforced? Some of these transgressions dated back to the Clinton years and we NEVER saw perp walks. The agencies according to the direction of Bush has been enforcing the law and Congress has been passing NEW laws. Fortunate for us you were irresponsible enough to paste an invalid opinion for all to see. For the record… I as well as 99.9% of Americans want to see law breakers who aren’t following the accounting rules/laws be brought to justice. Thank you for showing us that you think that Bush is part of the .01% who doesn’t think so. Obsessive?

Brian wrote, “– He is ignorantly hostile to science and technological progress

By being the first ever president to offer federal spending on stem cell research? Or one of the people just like the 95-0 Senators who voted against the Kyoto Treaty? Please elaborate. We’d like to see HOW obsessed you are at leveling invalid criticisms.

Smack!
Baklava says:

December 7, 2005 at 11:41 pm

I had too much time on my hands this evening as I was doing laundry and unpacking from my VA trip!
camojack says:

December 8, 2005 at 3:43 am

Anything that can hurt the Democrat Party going into next year’s elections is OK by me… 😆
Kevin says:

December 8, 2005 at 7:47 am

Brian said:

I like how Sister Toldjah is outraged at even the slightest criticism of any of the president’s policies in Iraq…

Me too Brian. It is so important that we have a united front right now, and Ms. Toldjah is leading the charge! Sure, the military has made some mistakes, but no war in the history of war hasn’t. It is not important to critique mistakes made by the military, as they are aware of them, and are good at fixing their mistakes. It is however important to glorify their corrections. They’ve made a bunch, and holy cow, it’s working!

Let’s all be on America’s side for once. I am glad Brian is joining in! I didn’t read past that sentence, but I’m sure it’s just more pro-America stuff, right?

ps. I love saying ‘holy cow’.
PCD says:

December 8, 2005 at 8:19 am

Brian,

You are not “for real”. I’d love to make you prove each and every lie you told by facing people in Iraq and not from a comfy protrected hotel. First we’ll tell the kurds you say that Saddam had no WMD, including the gas used on them. If they let you live, we would go to the next lie and the group affected by it. I really think you need time away from your keyboard among real people, not Democrats trying to lie their way into power.
PCD says:

December 8, 2005 at 8:53 am

FYI for everyone. Rick Moran is ABC’s Terry Moran’s brother. RadioBlogger posted a transcript of Hugh Hewitt interviewing Rick and the relation came out. I think the post is a month old or better.
tommy in nyc says:

December 8, 2005 at 9:08 am

Well listen I do think one thing everyone on the right and left should do is to wait and see how these elections turn out on the 15th. Seeing who the people of Iraq vote for might be an indication in what direction Iraq is going.
PCD says:

December 8, 2005 at 9:24 am

tommy, they sure won’t vote for any of your surrendering Democrats.

Really, if you Democrats had your way, Saddam would be violating his umteenth UN Security Council Resolution, thousands of Iraqis would disappear into mass graves, more UN, French, Russian, and other politicians would be greased with “oil for food” vouchers from Saddam, UN inspectors would still just miss the banned arms just shipped out the back gate from Saddam’s “Palaces”. and you’d still be screaming about a “Rush to War”.
CavalierX says:

December 8, 2005 at 11:13 am

I think I’m most amused by Brian’s apparent belief that whenever the enemy manages to kill anyone, it’s automatically a “failure” of planning on our part. Like war is some kind of bloodless chess game in which all the pieces move according to a plan, and everyone obeys the rules. Hell, what rules we actually do have regarding war are completely ignored by the terrorists, nor do they apply to them! So, please, Brian, take your mock surprise and your faux outrage back to DU where you found them. As for the war against Iraq, it was over in just under three weeks, despite Liberal whining that the heat, the dust and the Republican Guard would prove insurmountable obstacles.
dougf says:

December 8, 2005 at 11:53 am

Tangentally to this posting, but on-topic with a mention of the latest CBS poll data, I actually took the time to read the ‘details’ of the sample.

Once again overweighted with “D’s”, in this case 37% as opposed to 34% “R’s”. Not as badly proportioned as some but not very well balanced either. The polling results must be really grating on Democrat’s nerves right about now, as GWB is clearly in an updraft, and even a little ‘good’ news out of Iraq will really move the needle much closer to 50.

I have long predicted that the Democratic Party is DOOMED. It is the home of the truly maddened and happily, the majority of the population is still more or less sane. When an amoral opportunist such as HRC is the ‘voice of reason’ in a structure, how much hope is there for recovery. And I am not a Clinton-hater per se. Just can’t see how anyone could like HER, either as a person or a politician. What exactly does she believe in apart from the rightness of her having POWER?

I hope the Dems continue along this path. It will just speed up the neccessary collapse. Something better will arise. The ‘new’ structure could hardly be worse.

Could it?
andrew says:

December 8, 2005 at 9:05 pm

The interesting thing about Dean’s gaffes is that they have sometimes turned out to be true. His claim that capturing Hussein wouldn’t make us safer, his claim that the war wasn’t over when we captured baghdad, and his claim that Powell’s UN speech was unconvincing. At the time? the wild-mouthed Dean. Now? accepted truths.
Brian says:

December 9, 2005 at 12:01 am

Time for a little break for you, Brian. I’ve had it with you blatantly and deliberately lying about other people’s positions on issues and then arguing against them. You have been doing this for quite some time now and I’ve reached my breaking point. Come back when you’re ready to debate honestly, ok? –ST
NC Cop says:

December 9, 2005 at 1:41 am

Yeah, just like his statement that we lost 25,000 soldiers in Vietnam. Obviously a man well educated in history, can’t imagine why nobody takes him seriously.

Brilliant!!!!!
PCD says:

December 9, 2005 at 8:37 am

andrew,

How do you like the new ads showing white flags waiving in front of your “Cut and Run” leadership, especially, Screamin’ Howard Dean?

BTW, only in your mind is Dean right.
Pam says:

December 9, 2005 at 8:51 am

Andrew- who is accepting them as truth? His pets?
1. Have we been attacked on U.S. soil sice 9/11?
2. What idiot thought the war was over when we took Bagdad? The major combat mission was over. Not the fighting. He was thanking the military in that speech. Is there something wrong with that?
3. Do you have quotes from the weeks surrounding Powels speech or was this just a Dean hindsight thing?
4. Accepted truths? by who?
Pam says:

December 9, 2005 at 11:04 am

Here is the RNC response to White Flag Waving Democrats
Big Bang Hunter says:

December 9, 2005 at 4:28 pm

– Just as an aside, today the Reps ratcheted up another big notch, airing a series of ads that show clips of a number of the Defeat-a-crats issuing their “we can’t win, our troops are the terrorists, we need to pull out now”. I’m beggining to think the Liberals and acticist left people in the Dems are so bitter over losing the last election, they’ve taken leave of their senses. As has been reported elsewhere, many Dem’s in congress are starting to speak out against the leftwing rhetoric, no doubt worried about re-election and very unhappy constituents back home who are seeing them as weak on defense.

– The Dems are working hard to seem as if they had any hand in the Iraqui success to come. The basis to their arguments centers on a “Planned and orderly with-drawel at the earliest possible moment”. The problem is, that is undisputably the position of everyone in America, and has been since day one, so their claims are empty.

– When you look at the situation from the Dems standpoint a succes in Iraq by the Bush admin could pave the way for an automatic win in 2006/2008 for the Conservatives. If someone like Condi takes the presidency it could be 8 more years in the political wilderness. No wonder they’re in a panic. In yet another of the typical Liberal “political ironies”, its precisely because of the Admins overall successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, that lets the Dems practise this deception without the fear of actually weakening our position in the WOT. I don’t agree of course, but such is the rationalization that seems to infect the left these days.

– Bang
Pam says:

December 10, 2005 at 12:06 am

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), yesterday on the Bill Press Show: “I’ve spoken to Joe Lieberman and he knows he’s out there alone. I mean, literally alone. Joe is a fine man, he has strong feelings, but he’s just alone. Even Republicans don’t agree with Joe.”
Severian says:

December 10, 2005 at 4:06 pm

I have gotten to the point where I can’t tell what irritates me more about the Democrats, their constant, defeatist, anti-American vitriol, or the fact that they come out with a straight face and try and tell me what they are saying is something else. “Even Republicans don’t agree with Joe.” WTF? Harry, Harry, do you even remotely consider the fact that everyone you talk to isn’t an idiot (or rather, what does this say about how they view the average American – “Suckers, they’ll believe whatever we tell them!).

Harry and others, don’t pee on my head and then tell me it’s raining.

Comments are closed.