Fighting Back on National Security

As you've probably already seen, the Republicans are going up on the air this weekend with an ad attempting to gin up fear in voters by claiming that their lives and safety is incumbent on reelecting a Republican Congress. Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri play prominent roles in the ad. Though the RNC is only investing about $20,000 for ad time, the message is almost certain to go out as the newer media, particularly the cable news networks, devote significant time to discussing the potential ramifications of the spot.

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall looks at the way the debate over the ad is playing out through the lense of his "Republican Bitch-slap theory of electoral politics." In short, the GOP throws out an outrageous claim or produces an offensive anti-Democratic attack ad with the intention of making the Democrats call foul, in turn making the Democratic Party appear weak for complaining rather than standing up to the charges.

I think Josh is right in this view and that the Democrats should embrace the debate over the clearly mediocre national security record of the Bush administration and the Republican Congress. A good start for the Democrats might be to bring back out the web ad produced a little over a month ago by the DNC.

Still, while the DNC ad hits a lot of the right points, the conclusion of the ad is somewhat off topic. Rather than attacking President Bush and the Republicans for playing politics with national security, the Democrats should hit the GOP back where it hurts: We haven't caught Osama Bin Laden. We haven't caught Ayman al-Zawahiri. The War in Iraq has not made us safer; it has increased the threat of international terrorism. Afghanistan is falling back in control of the Taliban. Our ports are not secure; the Bush administration wants to sell control of our ports to a country whose citizens attacked us on September 11.

If the Republicans want to get into a debate over national security with the Democrats, the Dems should say fine, Bring It On. A clear plurality of Americans already trust the Democrats in Congress more than the Republicans in Congress on the issue of terrorism and a hastily-made ad with little money behind isn't going to change that immediately. So get some teeth, get some spine and show the Republicans that Democrats aren't going to take it anymore.

Tags: 2006 elections, Democrats, National Security, Republicans (all tags)

Comments

22 Comments

Re: Fighting Back on National Security

I find the Republican ad laughable.  It is a total farce.  I just don't see anybody buying this crap anymore.

by Robert P 2006-10-20 04:13PM | 0 recs
Bush Flip-Flops on Bin Laden

Remember President Bush's own record - and words - when it comes to Osama Bin Laden:

"So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you...I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."
...President Bush, March 13, 2004.

"Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations. Of course we're worried about Osama bin Laden."
October 13, 2004.

For the details, see:
"Bush Flip-Flops on Bin Laden."

by AvengingAngel 2006-10-20 04:17PM | 0 recs
And Zarqawi too

I know - we got him.  And Iraq's so much safer now on account of that, isn't it?

by RT 2006-10-20 04:22PM | 0 recs
FUCK YEAH!

That is what I call an ad! Yeeeha!

by crazymoloch 2006-10-20 04:24PM | 0 recs
just once...

Can't we take the LEAD in producing a small ad buy for the purpose of generating a ton of free media? Why are we always reacting?

Sort of like that "coffins" ad before Rahm wimped out...

by Master Jack 2006-10-20 05:06PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security
Nothing, not a word about this.
www.spp.gov
Dems could kick butt with mainstream mention of this, the complete sell out, America no longer America, the Amero but not.
They must all be Illuminati, New World Order.
Alex Jones, you made a believer out of me.
by Lasthorseman 2006-10-20 05:22PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

Let's not forget that the Bush Administration paid absolutely no attention to terrorism before 9/11 and that if the Supreme Court hadn't stolen the election the World Trade Center may still be standing today.

by gunnar 2006-10-20 05:45PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

The message is easy. George W. Bush can't be trusted.  He spilled American blood and treasure preventing Saddam Hussein from giving weapons he didn't have to terrorists he didn't know. Isn't the war on terror just too important to let George W. Bush and his enablers lose it for us? That should be our message.

by Brian CB 2006-10-20 06:03PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

These days the only place you'll find Osama bin Laden is in Republican ads.

by Liberal Avenger 2006-10-20 06:15PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

totally agreed, lets take the fight straight to their own turf. this whole bs about "fighting them over there" ignores the fact that we've unwittingly handed political power to terrorists and encouraged the creation of more. bombings in London, Madrid, Bali? how can Republicans say they're making us safer? what happened to "attacks on 911 were attacks on all of us"? if that's true, then attacks on London were attacks on us as well.

so fine, let's take the ticking bomb motif-- bombs need to be defused, and Republicans keep cutting the wrong wire. i'd like to see an ad on that.

by Chris G 2006-10-20 06:43PM | 0 recs
When Democrats fight, they fight to win

To hit the enemy hard, in wartime - to stop terrorism before it starts.

The ending of this ad should have been -
(instead of is it a, or b) some declarative statement about how the great wars have always been won together - i guess. I don't know. tired.

by heyAnita 2006-10-20 07:29PM | 0 recs
Tester's Ad should go national

The DNC should use Tester's Ad which asks the question, " where is Osama Bin Laden?".  Remake it for a national audience.  

by jncamane 2006-10-20 07:53PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security
I hear the dems saying they want to talk about National Security.  They know they got the goods on Bush over this now.  They point to a missing bin laden, the ports, ect.
But, I've been thinking about the people in the terrorist thing.
They are for the most part young angry men.  They feel like they need a way to have control over thier lives and are into the machoness of being man.
The wingers are for the most part angry white men.  They are into the whole macho of man and feel they don't control thier lives.  So, the terrorists are pretty much like the militia and neosupremist types here.  But, no one seems to see this.
by vwcat 2006-10-20 08:01PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security
I also wanted to say:  notice how thier ads are so unoriginal?
the daisy ad in 2000
the wolves which was a take off of a reagan ad with a bear
now the daisy again.
can't they do anything original??
by vwcat 2006-10-20 08:13PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

Kirsten Gillibrand

has made the Iraq War and sane, rational security policy front and center in her campaign against John Sweeney.

Kirsten Gillibrand

... will be live-blogging in the Blue America fund-raising series at:

Firedoglake
Saturday, Oct. 21
2:00 PM eastern

Please spread the word and join Kirsten at 2:00 PM!

Peace,

Andrew

by Andrew C White 2006-10-20 08:29PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

Why do they use them because they work stupid

by orin76 2006-10-20 09:52PM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

this ad will not be changing any minds ... at best it will only play to the 29% who would vote for the gop anyway.  Too late!

by bamabarrron 2006-10-21 01:14AM | 0 recs
Re: Dem Response

"We should be capturing Bin Laden instead of putting him in commercials"

by Bush Bites 2006-10-21 06:15AM | 0 recs
I disagree

Having not caught Osama isn't the point anymore; the point is precisely that Bush doesn't care about anything until it affects him personally.  Same for the Republican Congress.  Remember the Tsunami in Indonesia, Bush didn't say squat for days till his poll numbers went down, and suddenly he cared.  Remember Katrina, didn't care till the media started mocking him and his poll numbers went down, then he acted like he cared. Foley is the same thing, keep the pedophile in his safe seat till the scandal affects the House leaders - then he needs to resign, then there needs to be an investigation, then the ethics committee needs to convene.  Republicans care about US (that's the U.S.A. and us folks) only when not appearing to do so threatens their hold on power.  And that point is far more resonant, in my humble opinion, then all the uncaught terrorists in the world.  So much so that I bet if Bush caught Bin Laden today, nobody would care and it wouldn't give him or the Republicans more than a short blip in the polls (and not enough of a blip to matter on Nov 7.)  Not to mention that setting up the actual capture as the criteria of success makes the capture work.  The real problem with Bush and the Republicans isn't that they have failed so far, it's that their failures are the result of not caring enough about the things that really matter.  And I think that message has been slowly growing in the minds of regular folks since the day Bush announced "Mission Accomplished" and his overnight thanksgiving trip to Baghdad where regular soldiers weren't allowed to eat till he was gone.

by David in Burbank 2006-10-21 07:51AM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

I think these are really good points. say we do some day catch or kill bin Laden. Does that validate everything Republicans have and haven't done in GWOT? Of course not, but they'll spin it that way, and they'll use it to beat on critics who've harped on this point. We shouldn't put too much stock in the capture of single actors. The main point is that Republican policies have aggravated Middle East politics and alienated many moderates, which has long-term consequences.

Maybe the urge to focus on our failure to capture bin Laden is that it's an easy message to understand and push through the media. But we need to focus more on pithy summaries of the bigger problem, i.e., that there's more violence today, more terrorists today, than there were 5 years ago, and the US has less power than it did 5 years ago because of Bush's squandering of good will towards the US. This will remain true regardless of whether we've got bin Laden.

We're less safe than we were 5 years ago. Period.

by Chris G 2006-10-21 08:29AM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

if americans got any of their news from sources outside the u.s. they would see how badly the policies are failing in iraq, afghanistan, korea, and elsewhere... but the u.s. press whitewashes it all

http://www.miserywatch.com/2006/10/lates t_on_rices.html

by GusB 2006-10-21 09:33AM | 0 recs
Re: Fighting Back on National Security

If people knew who bad it all really was in afghanistan, iraq, korea, and elsewhere, the GOp could never get away with what it does...it's much worse than u.s. news reports...  news from iraq, afghanistan and korea from int'l sources

http://www.miserywatch.com/2006/10/lates t_on_rices.html

by GusB 2006-10-21 10:15AM | 0 recs

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