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Presidential foot in mouth? Can Dems Cash In on Golden Words?By Rick Horowitz
If Democrats were like Republicans, they'd be working late -- and smiling wide. Working late, because there's no time to waste; they're down to the final weeks of this presidential campaign, and the recent momentum has all been in the other direction. Now's the time -- maybe the last time -- to turn it around. And smiling wide, because they've just been handed the tools to make it happen: seven simple words. Seven beautiful words. "I don't think you can win it." The words belong to George W. Bush. He said them to Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. He said them out loud, and on camera. And he said them about the war on terror. "I don't think you can win it." If Democrats were like Republicans, they'd already be in the studio, cutting the ads. They'd be out on the stump, spreading the word. They'd be turning up on all the cable shows, and burning up the phone lines to the radio stations. DJs in the dance clubs would be scratching it on their turntables: "I don't think / I don't think / I don't think you can win it / Think you can win it / Think you can win it / I don't..." If Democrats were like Republicans, little children would soon be saying the seven words in their sleep. Little children, and parrots. And parents. If Democrats were like Republicans, they would jump on these seven words, and they would never let the other guy come up for air. You thought "catastrophic success" was a good one -- that was George Bush, too, a couple of days earlier, explaining the situation in Iraq. And "miscalculation" -- that's his latest word for some of his planning for post-war Iraq. The Republicans -- the Republicans don't need a lot of words to wreak a lot of havoc. Remember when John Kerry put "more sensitive" at the end of a list of things he vowed he'd be in taking on the bad guys -- "more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive"? Dick Cheney used it for a week of mockery and muscle flexing. This is how easily it comes to Republicans -- they don't even need their opponents' words! Here's Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House, on Fox News last Sunday morning. He's complaining about campaign ads by independent groups, and he zeroes in on one prominent anti-Bush contributor:
"You know, I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where -- if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from. And I..." Chris Wallace: "Excuse me?" Hastert: "Well, that's what he's been for a number of years -- George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there." Wallace: "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?" Hastert: "I'm saying I don't know where groups -- could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know. The fact is we don't know where this money comes from." The Speaker smeared Soros, and he never broke a sweat. If Democrats were like Republicans, they could do that, too. But a full sentence? On camera? How often do you get a gift like that? Imagine what the Republicans could do with a full sentence. Especially this full sentence: "I don't think you can win it." It's a sound bite. It fits on a bumper sticker. If Democrats were like Republicans, they would pound and pound on those seven words, and then pound and pound again. They wouldn't be deterred by explanations, by qualifications, by "What he was really saying was..." They wouldn't cease fire just because the president's handlers had tucked him back in his bubble. They would keep up the clamor and turn up the heat until finally, George Bush would have to step up and say, "Of course we can win the war on terror -- and that's just what we're gonna do!" And then the Democrats would shout, "He flip-flopped! He flip-flopped!" If Democrats were like Republicans. This is their chance, their golden opportunity. So the big question is: Can they sink to the occasion? Posted 8/31/04. Get
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Rick Horowitz
