October Surprise: Would Bush Make Another Visit to Baghdad? [View All]

[Skinner]

I was over on Atrios, and I saw this thread about possible "October Surprises" from the Bush Campaign. He proposed three possibilities, but obviously the most interesting (and most plausible) is his option #2: Flightsuit boy makes another "surprise" trip to the troops in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.

Kudos to Atrios. This is brilliant. I think he might be right.

Bush and Rove know from their internal polling that they could very well lose the election. They need to make a splash during the final days of the campaign in order to put the campaign over the top. But they've got a few problems...

We haven't found OBL, so they can't bust him out for the cameras. The code red terror alert system has been used so often that the media and even the public has grown bored with it. And there's nothing but bad news, at home and abroad.

So, their only option is to MAKE SOME NEWS, and to do something that ONLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES COULD DO. Something that showcases Bush's strengths, and takes full advantage of the power of the presidency.

This is a stunt that John Kerry simply cannot copy. Bush and Rove load the media onto Air Force One. They tell them after they're already over the Atlantic Ocean that they're on the way to a mystery destination. They land in Baghdad or Kabul (preferably Baghdad if the Secret Service will allow it).

Presto: Amazing photo-op with enthusiastic troops (hand-picked for their loyalty to the prez) who tell Bush how proud they are to be fighting the good fight in Iraq, tell the media how lucky we are to have a president like Bush, and tell the American people that everything in Baghdad is just great.

You see... Everything Kerry says about Iraq is wrong. See all the happy pictures? See all the smiling troops?

It would dominate the news for two days, maybe three. The press wouldn't be able to stop talking about it. Kerry would be stuck in a virtual media blackout during the final days of the campaign.

Rove would do this If he thought he could get away with it. I have no doubt.