Jim Rutenberg reports in The New York Times on an upcoming Republican TV ad which attempts to portray President Bush as a bold fighter against terrorism, and thus any who would oppose him/criticize him/run against him as spineless, weak, pro-terrorist, etc.
The new commercial gives the first hint of the themes Mr. Bush's campaign is likely to press in its early days. It shows Mr. Bush, during the last State of the Union address, warning of continued threats to the nation: "Our war against terror is a contest of will, in which perseverance is power," he says after the screen flashes the words, "Some are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorists."
This is the sort of thing that makes me empathize with Lambert in this story at Corrente, in which he finds himself yelling at a complete stranger he overheard equating the war on Iraq with the war on the perpetrators of 9/11.
No More Mr. Nice Blog responds to the ad's dishonest evasiveness about the president's dishonest evasiveness.
Billmon notes that this week is not the most auspicious time for the GOP to start airing an ad touting Bush's alleged successes in combating al-Qaida. With that group still thriving — committing horrific acts in Turkey while our troops are bogged down and unable to respond — one has to wonder why anybody thinks success against the terrorists could be sold as one of the president's "strengths."
Matthew Yglesias notes the broad-brush smear implicit in the ad's vague references to "some" who are "attacking the president for attacking the terrorists." It's unclear who "some" refers to, since none of the president's Democratic opponents has ever said such a thing. Yglesias continues:
Perhaps even more disturbing, however, is the implication from RNC communications director Jim Dyke that the failures of the Bush Iraq policy should be blamed not on those who proposed and implemented the policy, but rather on those who opposed it, a tactic reminiscent of John Ashcroft's "aid and comfort to the terrorists" remark regarding opponents of the Patriot Act. This combination of scapegoats and strawmen makes it essentially impossible to have a rational debate about anything, and truly gives the lie to the alleged conservative enthusiasm for civility.
Jesse at Pandagon calls this the "treasonous Democrats" strategy.
I'll simply add to all this that this ad seems to highlight one of George W. Bush's most unattractive and unflattering traits — his thin-skinned, hyper-sensitivity to criticism. "Some are attacking the president for attacking the terrorists," the ad says, revealing that the president perceives any criticism of his person or policies as the equivalent of armed violence.
The president's petulant prickliness is one reason he is carefully shielded from uncontrolled and unscripted public appearances. Yet we still get glimpses of it, such as when he appeared personally stricken by the idea that the California recall election, just days before that vote, might be a bigger story than his own campaign, even though that election was still more than a year off. His sneering sarcasm on that occasion was just a foretaste of what we'll see someday when he finally snaps. He's due for a big-time public tantrum/meltdown, like Andy Griffith at the end of A Face in the Crowd.
Even if that doesn't happen, it's still probably unwise for his party to run ads with the theme of: "Don't you dare criticize me." Encouraging the pathologies of the incumbent is not the best strategy for re-election.
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