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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

"This does not help our mission."

. . . so if you see commercials telling you to be afraid of terrorism, remember—it's because of Iraq. - Wesley Clark, VoteVets.org TV ad
Appeals like this are not going to help the Democrats increase their credibility on national security issues. Voters with calendars understand that this just isn't true. The fact of the matter is that, like it or not, Republicans have an easier time making terror a campaign issue than the Democrats do. It's very easy for the Democrats to lose credibility when they make claims like the one Clark makes in the ad.

I'm not sure what group of voters this ad is supposed to sway. It seems likely only to reinforce existing predispositions.

A better use of Clark would be in frank, no-nonsense ads about the use of our forces. He could explain why our timidity about risking soldiers at Tora Bora may have let Osama bin Laden slip away, and he could explain a few of the ways our troops are being misused in Iraq. The way for Democrats to seize this issue is not to focus on the casualties we have suffered in Iraq. It should be more of an "if you're going to do it, do it right" argument. A clip of Gen. Shinseki's testimony would be useful here. The approach should be less of the untenable "it's because of Iraq," more of "we all want to live in a safer world."

Here's my suggestion for the Democrats: run a montage of Tora Bora, Iraq, Katrina, Ken Lay, Abramoff, Foley, etc. with some simple declarative graphics, set to this Joan Armatrading classic.

Special non-redeemable "DTS Points" will be awarded to the first to correctly source the title quote.


posted at 1:06 PM

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