Kerry's plan can "Turn the tables on Republicans"

[ProSense]

Bush's Iraq Offensive

Robert Dreyfuss
June 14, 2006

If President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are worried that they have a losing political hand at home when it comes to Iraq, it isn’t evident from this week’s news. Less than five months before the November elections, a vote that will be a referendum on Bush’s imperial venture in Iraq, the president laid down his final marker on Iraq for 2006. The administration’s electoral strategy is to point proudly to Bush’s criminal mayhem in that war-battered country and challenge voters to endorse it. His message to antiwar Democrats and to the solid majority of voters opposed to the war? Bring ‘em on!

Snip...

Kerry, in an effort to turn the tables on Republicans, introduced a resolution in the Senate this week calling for the immediate withdrawal of nearly all U.S. forces in Iraq. The plan, according to the senator’s website , calls for “the redeployment of U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2006. Only U.S. troops essential to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces would remain.” Kerry also calls for the internationalization of the conflict:

The President (must) convene a summit that includes the leaders of the new Iraqi government, leaders of the governments of each country bordering Iraq, representatives of the Arab League, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, representatives of the European Union, and leaders of the governments of each permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to reach a comprehensive political agreement for Iraq that addresses fundamental issues including federalism, oil revenues, the militias, security guarantees, reconstruction, economic assistance and border security.

Kerry’s got the right idea. My guess is that if Kerry’s plan were put forward to voters as the core of the Democratic Party’s 2006 election platform, the Republicans would be routed. Not only is that the smart thing to do politically, but it’s the moral thing to do as well. The U.S. presence in Iraq has become an unspeakable moral blot, the scene of war crimes, devastation and a clumsy (and as yet unresolved) effort to consolidate the U.S. empire in southwest Asia. The issue is not whether the war is “winnable.” The issue is that America has no business winning it. Imperial wars can be won. But they don’t deserve to be won.

more...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/14/bushs_iraq_offensive.php

[AndyA]

1. I think the party that says, "We're bringing the troops home from Iraq,

and we're going to do it NOW" will be the party that wins in November. People are sick of the death and destruction. People know you can't form a government as long as the country is being occupied by another country.

As U.S. troop fatalities approach the number killed on 9/11, more and more people will see the price we've paid to remove Saddam has been way too high.

The polls show most Americans think Iraq is a bad deal. The party that promises to get us out of Iraq will be on top after the elections.

[wisteria]

10. Oh, you just brought to mind Nixon's "secret plan" to win in Vietnam.

He won the election on this premise. he really didn't even have a plan, he just said he did.

[spag68]

2. Kerry plan

Chances of this realistic plan being implemented are between slim and none, and slim left town.

[LittleClarkie]

4. Or the Bush admin will take parts of it, start implimenting it

and take credit.

It worked during the campaign.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. The point of introducing it is not to win.

The point of introducing it is to put it on the agenda and force the debate. This is what the party plans on running on.

[LittleClarkie]

7. But... but... Democrats don't have a plan!

Or an agenda!

Indeed, the more we present alternatives, the more people can see them, and know where we stand.

"Want this? Well, you'll have to vote for us to get it." etc.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

8. I swear, NOTHING pisses me off more than that kind of statement.

It's just Republican parroting. Anyone with half a fucking mind knows we have a plan AND an agenda. We might not all agree on it all the time, but that doesn't mean the plan isn't there.

AND THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU FUCKS HERE ON DU THAT SAY THE SAME FUCKING THING! YOU ARE BRAINDEAD!

[subterranean]

12. Um, I think the poster was being sarcastic.

I think she was mocking what the Republicans say, not agreeing with it.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Um, I don't think you understand.

I was agreeing with LittleClarkie on the "But Dems don't have a plan!" part.

[subterranean]

14. If that's the case, I apologize. I misunderstood. (nt)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. It's cool.

:toast: Happens all the time on the internets.

[still_one]

3. problem is a lot of Democrats in Congress don't agree

[saltpoint]

6. I'm glad John Kerry is serving as president, since Dubya certainly isn't.

That is a lot more energetic piece of problem-solving proposals than anything the Bush administration has come up with.

And it has the added advantage of keeping the Bush administration on the defensive on its indefensible foreign policies.

Very strong move by John Kerry.

[wisteria]

9. I agree with this strategy. Kerry's plan can be tweaked a bit to

smooth over some apprehensive Dem's, but we need to counter the Republicans. If we don't counter the Republicans with tough stands, they will walk all over us and we will lose again in Nov. I am convinced of this.

[subterranean]

11. I agree, too. Can we boil it down to a 20-second sound bite?

I like that Kerry is putting forward some kind of plan to get of Iraq, but we need to counter the Republican spin. Of course they will say the Democrats want to "cut and run" and try to paint us as cowards and worse. They will say, "We want to win the war on terror and protect America. They want to hold a meeting."
The strategy won't work unless we can reframe the debate and sell it to the average TV-viewing American. Long-winded statements about international summits won't do it. We need to attack the Republican policy of endless war and endless American taxpayer dollars poured into Iraq. We also need to portray Republicans as what they are: corrupt, lying hypocrites who give handouts to billionaires while stiffing the middle class.

[_dynamicdems]

16. Wow! Another great article about Senator Kerry.

I can barely keep up with them. This is great! Thanks for posting. :)