britinusa
Member
I missed the Lewinsky scandal. It happened the year before I arrived. From what I've learned since, the GOP blew it. They actually lost ground in the mid-term elections. The Republicans - like their sister party in the UK, the Conservative Party - always seemed to be outfought and out-thought by their opponents on the left.
That changed in 2000 with the arrival of the Texas Posse; Bush, Rove, Hughes etc. It was their goal not only to defeat the Democrats, but to destroy them.
In 2002 the Posse ran rings around Tom "Puff" Daschle and Terry "The Punk" McAwful. It was fascinating to watch the GOP give the Dems enough rope to hang themselves, time after time. The GOP regained the US Senate and increased their majority in the House.
I've changed my mind about Karl Rove and the SwiftVets; I think they are coordinating. And do you know something? I don't care!
What they are doing is quite brilliant. Kerry has used his 132 days in Vietnam as a shield to deflect criticism of his pathetic Senate voting record on national security issues.
I'll use a boxing analogy: Your opponent keeps his guard up. You try to get through but your punches are blocked by his gloves and arms. You change tactics and go for the body. His guard comes down. Now you go for head shots. You knock him out.
The SwiftVets have provided the body shots. The Vietnam guard is breeched. So the next time Bush or Cheney attack Kerry's voting record, he can't say "How dare you question my patriotism! I fought in Vietnam! You Didn't! I've got three Purple Hearts! Yadda-yadda-yadda..."
Any time he mentions Vietnam from now on, people will automatically think of the SwiftVets. By the way, I read on one of the blogs that the SwiftVets have an October Surprise already prepared. It will flatten Kerry.
Back to the rope-a-dope theme. Here's a prediction: next month, maybe just before or just after the first presidential debate, the Bush administration will reveal incontrovertible proof that Saddam's WMD are in Syria.
That changed in 2000 with the arrival of the Texas Posse; Bush, Rove, Hughes etc. It was their goal not only to defeat the Democrats, but to destroy them.
In 2002 the Posse ran rings around Tom "Puff" Daschle and Terry "The Punk" McAwful. It was fascinating to watch the GOP give the Dems enough rope to hang themselves, time after time. The GOP regained the US Senate and increased their majority in the House.
I've changed my mind about Karl Rove and the SwiftVets; I think they are coordinating. And do you know something? I don't care!
What they are doing is quite brilliant. Kerry has used his 132 days in Vietnam as a shield to deflect criticism of his pathetic Senate voting record on national security issues.
I'll use a boxing analogy: Your opponent keeps his guard up. You try to get through but your punches are blocked by his gloves and arms. You change tactics and go for the body. His guard comes down. Now you go for head shots. You knock him out.
The SwiftVets have provided the body shots. The Vietnam guard is breeched. So the next time Bush or Cheney attack Kerry's voting record, he can't say "How dare you question my patriotism! I fought in Vietnam! You Didn't! I've got three Purple Hearts! Yadda-yadda-yadda..."
Any time he mentions Vietnam from now on, people will automatically think of the SwiftVets. By the way, I read on one of the blogs that the SwiftVets have an October Surprise already prepared. It will flatten Kerry.
Back to the rope-a-dope theme. Here's a prediction: next month, maybe just before or just after the first presidential debate, the Bush administration will reveal incontrovertible proof that Saddam's WMD are in Syria.