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August 31, 2004

Lee Atwater would be disappointed

Later on in his life, dying from cancer, Lee Atwater regretted the tone of the 1988 campaign, and apologized to Mike Dukakis and his family. George W. Bush, Lee Atwater's apprentice in 1988, obviously harbors no such regrets:

Giuliani invokes 9/11 to ridicule Kerry

Defining President George Bush as the leader chosen by destiny to fight Islamic terrorism, senior party figures at the Republican convention in New York invoked the horror of September 11 and warned voters against changing the country's commander-in-chief at a critical time in the nation's history.

"Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision," said former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani as he launched a scathing, aggressive attack on Mr Bush's Democratic opponent.

Accusing Senator John Kerry of weakness and vacillation, Mr Giuliani described him as having no clear or consistent vision of how to fight terrorism and ridiculed his nuanced stand on the war on Iraq, saying he still had time to change his mind several more times before the election.

The harsh tone of the Republican convention has dispelled any notion that September 11 will not be exploited by the Republicans for Mr Bush's re-election campaign. Against the backdrop of the New York skyline and the slogan, "A Nation of Courage", Mr Giuliani repeatedly referred to the "horror" on September 11, including a gruesome description of a man plunging to his death from the World Trade Centre.

On that day, Mr Giuliani said, he turned to the New York Police Commissioner and said: "Thank God George Bush is our President." And he added to the roar of the Republican delegates: "I say it again tonight."

Before Mr Giuliani spoke, three women, all relatives of September 11 victims, took to the stage and urged Americans to take up the fight in the memory of their loved ones. While they did not overtly use the stage to publicly endorse President Bush they left little doubt they supported him.

Mr Giuliani's role was not only to rekindle the memories of September 11 at the convention, which is being held near the World Trade Centre - it was also, as several local commentators put it, to "throw red meat" to the partisan crowd.

He criticised the failure of Europe to stand up to terrorism, singling out Germany and Italy, and appeared to compare Senator Kerry to Neville Chamberlain appeasing Hitler before World War II.

With helicopters patrolling and thousands of police guarding the streets, the Republican Convention went all out to portray the coming election as a vote on whether the US will stand and fight in the war on terror or bow down and surrender.

The Note makes the obvious point:

There is a creeping fear among some Democrats that they are up against a party that knows and lives by the following:

First Rule of Politics: "It ain't beanbags."

Second Rule of Politics: "Never lose control of your public image, but force your opponent to lose control of his."

Third Rule of Politics: "In times of battle, all hands on deck."

Fourth Rule of Politics: "Keep your candidate above the fray, but force your opponent to debate and defend against surrogates and shadowy, ferocious enemies."

Fifth Rule of Politics: "Say thing that get under your opponent's skin, and which will sound so implausible to his ear that at first he won't bother to defend himself."

Posted by Mike at August 31, 2004 12:39 PM

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