California Conservative

This is just too delicious to be true. This has to be another Rovian conspiracy to make Democrats look bad. You can’t imagine it this good. The Washington Times’ Rowan Scarborough is reporting it, though, so it must be true. Here’s the latest Democratic Bush-bashing publicity stunt:

Senate Democrats have mapped a political battle plan for the March congressional recess that calls on lawmakers to stage press events with active duty military personnel, veterans and emergency responders to bash President Bush on virtually every one of his national security policies. The game plan, devised by the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV), is contained in a six-page memo distributed to Democratic senators on Thursday at a closed-door meeting at the Capitol and provided to The Washington Times by a congressional staffer.

Titled “Real Security,” the political document calls for staged town hall events at military bases, weapons factories, National Guard units, fire stations and veterans posts. “Ensure that you have the proper U.S. and state flags at the event, and consider finding someone to sing the national anthem and lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the event,” the battle plan states. However, the Defense Department prohibits political events on military bases. The rule states, “commanders will not permit the use of installation facilities by any candidate for political campaign or election events, including public assemblies or town hall meetings…”

Do these idiots really think that the American people think that we aren’t spending enough on staying safe? Do these idiots think that they won’t get bashed for this type of PR campaign but not get slapped silly for the fuss they’re raising about the NSA intercept program? Do they think that it won’t be mentioned that this is a stunt in light of Reid’s boasting that they’d killed the Patriot Act?

This proves that they think they’re winning this debate. Nothing is further from the truth. They aren’t. The Agenda Media polling says they are but that polling is plain wrong. By nightmarish margins, too.

The thought of pictures of Senate Democrats surrounded by military hardware should cause Democratic strategists nightmares. Think Dukakis, thumb raised, in the tank. Being seen with soldiers who’ve served but now don’t agree with the war isn’t the image I’d want to paint, either. That’s just another reminder to the troops still fighting of the importance of voting Republican.

That’s such a target-rich environment that Republican strategists must be drooling for those pictures to use this fall. It’s just my opinion but this might get pretty ugly for the Democrats this fall.

“These are events to highlight the need for increased funding for the troops,” Mr. Manley said. “It’s an effort to paint the White House and the Republican Congress as having a failed effort on national security issues, which is a direct result of their misplaced priorities and mismanagement.”

This strategy is what’s known as winning a skirmish and losing the battle and the war.

In almost every issue in the Reid memo, Democratic lawmakers are called upon to criticize the president for not spending enough federal dollars. The plan urges the lawmakers to:
“Hold a town hall meeting with state officials and a local National Guard unit at their armory to discuss the security impact of long deployments…Ask National Guard members to offer input on how security and disaster response at home is compromised by long deployments.”

Methinks that asking the National Guard such questions won’t elicit much of a response.

“Hold a town hall meeting with troops at a local military installation…When selecting a location at the military installation for the event, make sure to select a space that allows easy press access and clearly conveys the message in the shot. Planes, vehicles, equipment and signage in the background enhance the pictures coming out of your event.”

That’s the picture. Surround yourself with equipment that looks foreign to you. That should bring tears to Karl’s eyes. Beautiful.

“Work with [veterans] organizations…to find recently returned Iraq and Afghanistan veterans willing to discuss the mental effects they or their fellow veterans have experienced.”

What’s the point you’re making?

“Tour a factory in your state that manufactures military equipment like Humvees or body armor and hold a press availability afterwards with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans on the importance of protective equipment.”

This should be precious. Remember Hillary getting all upset that the soldiers didn’t wear a ton of body armor? Remember her calling for the special meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee to talk about that, only to not show? Here’s what I wrote of that meeting:

• Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, for instance, testified that the Pentagon had tried to beef up body armor, but “in many cases we found [the troops] didn’t wear it because it was too heavy.”
• “We must not burden our soldiers with weight to the point that they become ineffective and susceptible to other dangers,” explained Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army’s director of force development.
• Marine Sgt. Jared McNerney actually modeled the kind of up-armored uniform Clinton indicated she preferred. But Sgt. McNerney explained that if he was forced to carry that much weight, it could get him killed. “I’m climbing walls, I’m jumping through windows,” McNerney complained. “What I need most is mobility.” With the heavier gear, he said, “I can barely extend my arms over my head.”

Reid must think that nobody’s heard this testimony. He’s partially right. Nobody’s heard about it through the Agenda Media. It’s common knowledge on the Right Blogosphere, though.

Bottom line: this issue is a loser for Democrats because it gives the Right Blogosphere another chance to remind people of the facts on these important issues. It’s fraught with perils for Democrats.

Bottom line II: This proves how depleted the ranks of top Democratic strategists are. Reid’s sending his fellow senators into a bloodbath and he doesn’t even realize it. I pity the poor fools. Almost.

Cross-post at LetFreedomRing

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 19th, 2006 at 4:15 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Hillary, Military, W. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.