Prometheus 6

"Six years after Sept. 11, this man still roams free - thanks to George W. Bush and his Republican allies. They promised they would be tough. They promised to protect us here at home. But instead they took their eye off the ball, spending $2 billion a week in a futile war half a world away from our real enemy, imperiling our brave servicemen and women, and emboldening those who would come here to kill us. America can no longer afford the party of weakness. Vote Democratic, as if your life depended on it."

Hyperbolic, yes - but right in sync with what Bush said last Nov. 6, on the eve of the congressional elections: "As you go to the polls, remember, we're at war. And if you want this country to do everything in its power to protect you and, at the same time, lay the foundation of peace for generations to come, vote Republican."...

Can the Democrats aim for the gut? We'll see. They might bear in mind what Adlai Stevenson said in 1956. The Democratic candidate was leaving a rally when a woman told him, "Every thinking person will be voting for you." He replied: "Madame, that is not enough. I need a majority."

The American Debate | Democrats' rare chance to go for gut
By Dick Polman
For The Inquirer

Consider this hypothetical:

A Democratic president is forced to take action after terrorists attack New York and Washington. It's clear that the terrorists' sponsors are based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But within 18 months, this Democrat decides to invade a country that had nothing to do with the attack. In the next four years, he spends half a trillion dollars, sucking America deeper into a quagmire, stretching the military to the breaking point - while in Pakistan, the culprits remain free. Indeed, U.S. intelligence officials warn that the evildoer group in Pakistan has "regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability."

Imagine it's the eve of a national election. Any question how the GOP would respond?

They'd run TV ads mocking the Democrats as the party that has made America weaker. Their talking heads on Fox News would lament about how the Democrats are wrecking our proud military, can't be trusted to run a war, can't even choose the right war to fight. They'd crank out podcasts about how the party of George McGovern is wasting our precious blood and treasure while our true enemies plot to kill our kids in their suburban beds.

In short, the Republicans would craft a visceral message that aims for the gut and engages the emotions. Over the last 40 years, that has been the GOP's metier.

These days, however, the Republicans are stuck in neutral, because it's their own guy who has fought the wrong war and emboldened our enemies. Which gives the Democrats a rare opportunity to lash out at GOP national security failures, to aim for the gut and engage the emotions.

But that is not what Democrats do.