The People Speak

The Good News for the Administration: "Six in 10 Americans believe US troops should not be withdrawn from Iraq until certain goals are achieved, while 35 percent said they want a timetable for their pullout."

The Bad News: "The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed that 55 percent did not believe Bush has a plan that will achieve victory for the United States in Iraq, while 41 percent thought he did."


What was it that one guy said that one time?

"Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time...the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans." - Patton


Which brings Reagan to mind. Here's why I think he was so popular. When he beat Carter, the roster of ex-Presidents looked like this:

• Carter - Incompetent liberal
• Ford - Incompetent moderate
• Nixon - Competent sociopath

Reagan won the same way Roosevelt had - promising that whatever he did, it wouldn't be more of the same. I remember sitting with Tuckerman the night before the election, going state by state:
Rhode Island: Change or More of the Same?
California: Change or More of the Same?
Florida: Change or More of the Same?
Illinois: Change or More of the Same?
Texas: Change or More of the Same?

It didn't take long to figure out what was going to happen...





Reagan had plenty of failures during his administration - the mass killing of the Marines in Lebanon, Iran-Contra. But even his failures were a byproduct of his Roadhouse foreign policy: "I don't like the way Grenada's looking at me. Hey Grenada! Your ass is mine!"

A long-winded way of saying Reagan's greatest advantage had nothing to do with his politics, his financial backing, or his charm. It was this: he wasn't Carter, Ford, or Nixon. He was an aggressive straight shooter who wasn't going to put up with a lot of crap from foreigners.

Well, what goes around comes around. Political scientist HA HA HA HA, I'm sorry I can't say that without laughing. Let me try again... Political scientist Stephen Skowronek of famous Yale University theorizes that Bush is an 'Orthodox Innovator' - that he is picking up the Reagan playbook and trying to make it work 2o years later. And that certainly feels right - Bush's central marketing message has always been: I'm the straight-talking guy who'll make the tough call.

The problem with Orthodox Innovators, according to Skowronek, is that most of them were one-termers. They foundered because they were bringing the wrong tools to bear. And Bush's real Waterloo was not Iraq, where the Reagan doctrine has at least some theoretical relevance. It was Katrina, which didn't fit his agenda at all, and which consequently made him look like a stumblebum. And America hates a stumblebum.

To my mind this is all teed up for the Democrats, if they'd just take the ball and hit the hole. Bush has created a stench of failure that is easily the equal of Carter's in 1980. Quick, name something about America that makes you proud. Anything. Anything at all, I'll wait.

It's 1980 again. The field is littered with fools, and anyone who can bring honor to the country can win. Americans currently despise the Democrats because of their timidity, their obsessive political calculation, and their excessively nuanced responses to even the most simple questions:

"Hey Joe Lieberman, how should we improve education in this country?"
Read it and weep.

It's not just wonkery, it's Republican wonkery. This is not the way to victory.

We already know what the successful Democrat looks like. So, is there a southern governor out there, a plain-spoken man of integrity, a teflon guy who's willing to stand up and fight for what's right? Why yes, the man who runs the best-managed state in America - a man who lives in DC's back yard - a Democrat with business experience, who stands up for Democratic principles. I'm serious - Mark Warner looks real.

I say: forget about the primaries - let's get going right now. Let's get out there and talk to the people. Not in a preachy Hillary Clinton way, not in a scolding Howard Dean way - but American-to-American, in a we've got a job to do way. Let's get behind Mark Warner now, give early and often, and let's run the hucksters, influence-peddlers, and stock-jobbers out of our nation's capitol! Let's make Bush the Carter of this generation! Let's restore the dignity and honor of this great nation!!!

It's right there man, if the Democrats would just shut up and go for it.