What Big Mitch learned from Karl Rove

When John Kerry, a true war hero, who took a principled position in opposition to the war, decided to make that the cornerstone of his campaign, Karl Rove knew what to do. Attack him on his war record, call him a flip-flopper, and accuse him of being un-American. It was sleazy beyond belief, and it worked.

Today’s NY Times poll shows that in only two categories do Republicans poll better than Democrats. Republicans are more likely to “make sure military defenses are strong” (55% v. 29%) and “make the right decisions when it comes to dealing with terrorism.” (40% v. 35%).

What to do, what to do? Go after their strength, not in the sleazy manner of Karl Rove, but rather with indisputable facts.

Here’s some dialogue for three generic Democratic commercials:

We’re the Democrats and we believe in competency, not cronyism. The culture of corruption has made our country less safe than ever. Why? Because Republicans don’t know how to make the right decisions when it comes to dealing with terrorism.

America was attacked by Osama Bin Ladin’s gang of terrorists. Here’s why he hasn’t been brought to justice. [Tape of President Bush saying, “I really don’t think about it that much.”] We need new leadership that thinks hard about the threat that terrorists pose.

We’re the Democrats and we’ll make the right decisions when it comes to dealing with terrorism.

Here’s another:

We’re the Democrats and we believe in keeping our military strong. The men and women in our Armed Forces shouldn’t have to scrounge around in junkyards for armor for their Humvees, while corrupt Republican congressmen take bribes from defense contractors.

Fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq doesn’t make us strong. Doing it on the cheap doesn’t make us strong. And 20,000 American casualties in Iraq don’t make our military strong, either.

Republicans cut veteran benefits, so they can give tax breaks to the super-wealthy. If we are to keep our military strong, we can’t go back on the promises we made to the men and women serving our country, just so the ultra-rich can get richer. Not now. Not ever.

We need you to help us keep our military strong. We need you to vote Democratic.

Here’s another:

We’re the Democrats, and we believe in keeping our military strong. The American armed forces are the mightiest in the world because our soldiers have always been the best trained, and best equipped. And that’s not the only reason. We also have the best intelligence, the best planners and the best generals in the world.

Donald Rumsfeld chose to take the military into Iraq based on lies. He ignored the intelligence that said that Saddam didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. He chose to ignore the advice of his generals. When General Sinseki told him we would need more troops to win the peace, he was forced out of the military. The result: we are bogged down in Iraq, and 20,000 American casualties have not kept the military strong.

We’re the Democrats and we need your vote to keep our military strong.

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”