Bush Promises to Offer Detailed Plans at Convention
...Mr. Bush's advisers said they were girding for the most extensive street demonstrations at any political convention since the Democrats nominated Hubert H. Humphrey in Chicago in 1968. But in contrast to that convention, which was severely undermined by televised displays of street rioting, Republicans said they would seek to turn any disruptions to their advantage, by portraying protests by even independent activists as Democratic-sanctioned displays of disrespect for a sitting president.
...Mr. Bush's advisers said they were girding for the most extensive street demonstrations at any political convention since the Democrats nominated Hubert H. Humphrey in Chicago in 1968. But in contrast to that convention, which was severely undermined by televised displays of street rioting, Republicans said they would seek to turn any disruptions to their advantage, by portraying protests by even independent activists as Democratic-sanctioned displays of disrespect for a sitting president.
I wonder if they're going to say that about the City's firemen.
Democratic-sanctioned! The right to protest policy should be sanctioned by every party. It's guaranteed in the Constitution. (As an aside, there's kind of a little inside joke I have with myself that they always refer to the Democrat party as the Democratic party. Is there a Freudian or subliminal message there?)
And after months in which Mr. Bush stressed issues of concern to conservative supporters - from restrictions on stem cell research to a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage - the convention will offer its national television audience a decidedly more moderate face for the president and his party. If "strength" was the leitmotif of the Democratic convention in Boston, "compassion" will be the theme in New York, marking the return of a mainstay of Mr. Bush's 2000 campaign, party leaders said.
"Wolf in sheep's clothing" I think is the appropriate phrase. Or maybe it's just more 1984. I think I'll make up a campaign poster: Bush-Cheney '84.
That's pretty slick, though. They've run the entire term on words. Misapplied ones at that. So in the run-up to the election, they sqawk about who's the toughest on terrorism, get the opponent to start sounding like Vlad the Impaler, and then turn the tables at election time so he looks rabid in a world that is in dire need of compassion.
Most of all, Mr. Bush's aides said that after five months in which they have focused almost exclusively on attacking Mr. Kerry, the president will use his speech to offer what they asserted would be expansive plans for a second term, in an effort to underline what they argued was Mr. Kerry's failure to talk about the future at his own convention.
...Ed Gillespie, the national Republican chairman and a senior Bush campaign adviser, argued that Mr. Kerry had missed an opportunity at his convention by spending too much time talking about his biography and Mr. Bush, reflecting Mr. Kerry's effort to use his convention to present himself as strong enough to carry the nation through a time of war.
"They left people feeling hungry for substance," Mr. Gillespie said. "We will not make that mistake in New York. We will come out of there with specific proposals for the future for a new term."
...Ed Gillespie, the national Republican chairman and a senior Bush campaign adviser, argued that Mr. Kerry had missed an opportunity at his convention by spending too much time talking about his biography and Mr. Bush, reflecting Mr. Kerry's effort to use his convention to present himself as strong enough to carry the nation through a time of war.
"They left people feeling hungry for substance," Mr. Gillespie said. "We will not make that mistake in New York. We will come out of there with specific proposals for the future for a new term."
The Demwits play into the GOP hand every time, don't they?
Rebooblicans Zell Miller and Cowardy Custard.
Oh wait, Zell Miller is a Democrat! And he'll be giving the lead-off speech at the Republican National Convention. No, that is not a typo.
I think Zell is not the nimrod people make him out to be. Well, maybe he is, but I also think that more Democrats should take the hint and register themselves as Republicans and then start voting for Democrat policies. It would look good. Then the Democrats could say, "Look! Even Republicans don't like their own policies."
To a large extent, Mr. Bush's aides said, they were orchestrating a convention that would be as much about celebrating the nation and what they portray as its success at weathering the attacks of Sept. 11 as it would be talking about Mr. Bush's tenure.
Campaign-wise, between the two, considering that tenure, I'd make the same choice.
But what about that Mission to Mars? Whatever happened to that grand idea? Maybe he could offer to be on it if we vote for him.
(Thanks to LaBelle for the link.)
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