Democrats have held advantages on domestic policy issues for a long time now – health care, taxes, etc. – but that’s all for naught when people think the other guy is going to keep them safe. Well, the Dems are being given an opportunity on a silver platter
* Powerful global events have had a real impact the American electorate and provided Democrats with a unique opportunity to get heard on the issues of foreign policy and national security where Republicans have long dominated.
* Democrats win every security debate in this poll and when voters are asked who they trust more on issues including the Iraq war, foreign ownership of US ports, and homeland security issues, Democrats come out on top. The only exception is the nuclear threat in Iran, where Republicans have a narrow 5 point advantage.
There’s no room for me-tooism or Clinton-style incrementalism on this issue. Dems need to embrace a single policy towards Iraq (redeployment) and brand it as the alternative to the Republican position (stay and get killed). Simply by offering a position, the Dems can neutralize or triumph over one of the longest running Republican advantages on the national level.
That’s why I’m sure the Dems will screw it up.
ahh yes….”Advance to the rear…”
THAT should fool all those dumb voters…..
Brand Democrat: All Bad Ideas, All The Time (Just Ask Russ Feingold)
“Dems need to embrace a single policy towards Iraq (redeployment) and brand it as the alternative to the Republican position (stay and get killed).”
Retreat or get killed. Wonderfull message for the Dem’s to push going into the 2006 elections. Tell America you deperately need to win over the Republicans so you can surrender in Iraq.
Please, democrats, take Oliver’s suggestion to heart.
Just curious, Oliver, but if the electorate already trusts the Dems on Iraq more than the Republicans, why should the Democrats risk that standing by proposing redeployment? You can make the case for it on substantive policy grounds. But you seem to make the case on political grounds and I don’t see how it follows. People have flocked to the Dems on Iraq by default. They’d rather have an undefined “opposition” upon which they can project their own disparate plans, than support a known Republican failure. Politically speaking, the Dems don’t have to offer their own “alternative plan” on Iraq because the Republicans don’t have a successful one either. It’s just that right now, the Republicans bear the blame for the failures in Iraq.