The Last Chance Democracy Cafe

So Bush and Cheney are on the attack — again.  Yawn. 

Associated Press: Bush Blasts Democrats on Economic Issues

March 24,2006 | INDIANAPOLIS — President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney launched a two-man offensive against the Democrats on Friday, with Bush suggesting the opposition party would stall the economic recovery and Cheney portraying Democratic leaders as weak on combating terror.

Bush, trying to regain his political footing ahead of this year’s critical midterm elections, told a GOP audience in Indianapolis that “the difference is clear” between the two parties on how to sustain the U.S. economic recovery.

“If you want the government in your pocket, vote Democrat,” Bush said. “If you want to keep more of your hard earned money, vote Republican.”

Cheney, speaking at a GOP fundraiser in Orlando, Fla., denounced Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and party chairman Howard Dean by name. And he asserted that “leading Democrats have demanded a sudden withdrawal from the battle against terrorists in Iraq, the very kind of retreat that Osama bin Laden has been predicting.”

“And with that sorry record, the leaders of the Democratic Party have decided to run on the theme of competence. If they’re competent to fight this war, then I ought to be singing on American Idol,” Cheney said, referring to the top-rated Fox amateur talent show.

Did I mention — yawn.

I’ve seen this movie before: An over-the-hill boxer, punch-drunk after years of being pummeled, going for one last fight, flailing away blindly trying somehow to land the big punch.  It isn’t that he stands any chance of winning; he just doesn’t know anything else to do. 

You have to wonder whether establishment Democrats understand just how profoundly George W. Bush is wounded; if they do, they’re clearly afraid to say it out loud; he’s kicked their butts so regularly, I suspect they’re still feeling a little punch-drunk themselves.

And, yes, Democrats have been optimistic before, only to watch our hopes slide down the sewer on Election Day.  That certainly could happen again this time — but I doubt it. 

You can hear it in the anguished voices of rank and file Republicans: Bush has become an embarrassment.  You can see it in the way Republican members of Congress are running from him at warp speed.

Middle America has lost faith in this president in a fundamental and, I suspect, irreversible way. 

Most families in this country are hurting financially, despite the promise of a so-called economic recovery; and, as Paul Krugman recently noted (warning Times Select wall), they’re starting to notice that Bush doesn’t really seem to care about them and their problems very much:

Why doesn’t Mr. Bush get any economic respect? I think it’s because most Americans sense, correctly, that he doesn’t care about people like them. We’re living in a time when many Americans are feeling economically insecure, but a tiny elite has been growing incredibly rich. And Mr. Bush’s problem is that he identifies so totally with the lucky, wealthy few that in unscripted settings he can’t manage even a few sentences of empathy with ordinary Americans. He doesn’t feel your pain, and it shows.

Meanwhile, the mess in Iraq is scaring the hell out of Americans of every social class and political party.

But it doesn’t end there: Americans are increasingly unhappy about pretty much everything Bush, Cheney and the congressional Republicans are doing these days; they’re tired of the corruption, sick of the greed and perhaps most of all fed up with the incompetence. 

And, yes, they’ve also finally noticed that they’re a bunch of liars.

Have you noticed that you don’t see many Bush-Cheney bumper stickers around anymore?  Sure, the election is long over, but many people leave them on anyway, either out of laziness or as an expression of continued support.  But most of theirs are gone — scraped off and dumped in the trash.  In fact, it can be sort of a surreal experience to travel through solid Republican areas anymore.  You’re apt to see more old Kerry bumper stickers on cars, than ones for Bush.

And if that’s not good enough to make the point, how about the fact that in redder than blood Kansas, according to the most recent SurveyUSA results, only 44 percent of respondents approve of the job Bush is doing, as against 52 percent who disapprove.  He has a better than a 50 percent approval rating in only three states.

A rabid skunk would have a fair chance of outpolling Bush these days.

So what does Karl Rove pull out of his little black box of magic?  He sends Bush and Cheney out to give their same old tired Democratic bashing speeches.  Yawn.

Has he forgotten how well Bush’s other recent barnstorming campaigns, for social security privatization and to drum up support for the Iraq War, have worked out?  The polls didn’t move a millimeter.

And so now we have Bush out talking up the great economic recovery we’re “enjoying” — you know, the one, mentioned above, that’s done next to nothing for anyone other than the super rich.  Yeah, that sounds like a winning strategy.

Then there’s Dick Cheney speaking to a fundraiser, making snide jokes about Democrats.  Right, that’s just what Cheney needs to improve his image, a little more snideness.  

Yawn.

There are a number of things that might happen between now and the election that could dampen Democratic gains in Congress, not the least of which is the omnipresent danger the Democrats themselves will somehow blow it, most likely by being overly cautious. 

But having Bush and Cheney give the same old stock speeches attacking Democrats isn’t going to get the job done.  Not this time. 

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This entry was posted by Steve on Saturday, March 25th, 2006 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Comment. 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.