Democrats and MoveOn unfit for command
Jed Babbin:
The ad complains about his dropping off of the Baker Hamilton commission. Do the people at MoveOn seriously think Republicans care about that. Rudy can have two different responses to the criticism. First he can say he did not think they were moving toward a solution that would work and did not want to be associated with it. The second response would be that perhaps if he had stayed he could have persuaded them not to adopt a solution that made no sense militarily and was contrary to military doctrine in dealing with a counterinsurgency war.
MoveOn has made itself an issue in this election. That is always bad for a candidate who is trying to make a claim to leadership.
...Making the MoveOn purchase of the Democrat party an issue in the coming election should be one of the Republicans goals. So far Rudy Giuliani has done the best at seizing the initiative on that issue. In doing so he got the group to expose one of their general election ads against him in the Iowas caucus race that will only aid Rudy and will make the ad worthless in a general election.
Americans’ reaction to the ad ("Gen. Betray Us") – at least Americans who aren’t Democrats seeking national office -- has been hugely negative. The outpouring of anger at MoveOn has the MoveOners scared. Late last week, Pariser sent out another e-mail asking supporters if they were ‘on the same page’ with the MoveOn leaders, and the MoveOn website posted this whiny "explanation" which says, in part: "MoveOn is a member-driven organization. There will always be moments where consensus is impossible, but if MoveOn members don’t feel good in general about what we’re all doing together, MoveOn simply can’t function. That’s why we take the concerns of every member very seriously." More seriously than they take the facts.
If Republicans can capitalize on America’s reaction, the MoveOners will have made a mistake that costs the Democrats the White House.
The day after the ad appeared, Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), listening to Petraeus’ testimony, told Gen. Petraeus that his report requires, "…a willing suspension of disbelief." In plain language, Clinton told Petraeus he is a liar.
In that moment, Clinton displayed not only her allegiance to MoveOn.org and the hyperliberal left, but also her utter contempt for the military.
The military functions on two basic principles: discipline and honor. Soldiers don’t follow their commanders only because of their rank. To be a military leader, from sergeant to general, means that you have to earn the trust of those you command. If they don’t believe you -- if they cannot take you at your word regardless of whether they like what you’re saying -- you cannot lead. Clinton’s over-the-top accusation -- were it true -- would have proven Petraeus unfit for command. But because the accusation was false, it proved that of Clinton.
Hillary Clinton is as spontaneous as a space shuttle launch. Nothing she does or says is unrehearsed or unplanned. She and her team calculated that the accusation tossed at Petraeus would do two things. First, it would distance her from her votes for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 and her vote to confirm Petraeus last January in the Senate 81-0 vote. Second, it would be an "I’m really with you" wink aimed at the MoveOn gang.
Later, both Clinton and her primary competitor Barack Obama were given an opportunity to criticize the MoveOn Times ad, and both demurred. If Republicans are smart, they will make the MoveOn ad a millstone around their necks all the way through the 2008 campaign.
The best ads in presidential politics change the outcome. In 1964, the anti-Goldwater ad featuring a pretty little girl with a flower with a nuclear mushroom cloud in the background created a fear of Goldwater that Lyndon Johnson used to great advantage. The 1988 “Willie Horton” ads -- about a convicted murderer released early a program supported by Democratic candidate Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, and who used his furlough to commit another violent rape – hurt Dukakis badly, painting him as soft on crime.
But the worst ads take a shot that ricochets and hurts the candidate they are meant to help. Dukakis -- photographed sitting in a tank wearing a tanker’s helmet, looking for all the world like Alfred E. Neuman’s twin brother -- finished him off. The MoveOn ad should be one of the ads that ricochets and kills the Dems’ chance in 2008.
...
The ad complains about his dropping off of the Baker Hamilton commission. Do the people at MoveOn seriously think Republicans care about that. Rudy can have two different responses to the criticism. First he can say he did not think they were moving toward a solution that would work and did not want to be associated with it. The second response would be that perhaps if he had stayed he could have persuaded them not to adopt a solution that made no sense militarily and was contrary to military doctrine in dealing with a counterinsurgency war.
MoveOn has made itself an issue in this election. That is always bad for a candidate who is trying to make a claim to leadership.
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