Peggy Noonan: The Paragraph- Help the White House make the case for re-election

Opinion Journal ^ | 02/12/04 | Peggy Noonan

[John Jorsett]

I think Noonan has it right: the base is restless. Bush has been a great war president, and cut taxes, and is on the correct side of several other things like Kyoto. However, he's on the wrong side of a number of big issues. Overall I'd give him a C minus. Most of us who think this way will probably still vote for him, but I wouldn't expect as much enthusiasm as if he'd been more aggressive on, say, immigration. And the "where else are they going to go?" attitude on the part of Bush political operatives really isn't helping.

[over3Owithabrain]

Peggy is a great writer agreed, but as such she often has her head in the clouds. She has a very sensitive and ethereal spirit. That's all well and good, but it doesn't suit the rough and tumble of election politics. She's panicking, calling Bush bumbling and his base scared. I admit I was taken aback when this campaign started with Kerry's emergence, but it's time for all of us to get our footing. Be calm and patient like W is. Kerry is already beginning to get beat up, and the polls have stabilized. As for energizing the base, Bush doesn't need to right now. His enemies are doing that for him. Bush is letting the fight be brought to him - hence the slow leaking of Guard info to keep them crazy, the waiting for them to bring up Vietnam so as to open up Kerry for his antiwar stances. Things are starting to roll...

[Burkeman1]

You "cringe" when listenting to Bush! You are a "Troll", You are from "DU", why don't you join the Democrats!

Sarcasm over. Totally agree. Bush needs to shape his act up now despite what hacks and crazed Bush fanatics say now. They are no help to him. And that is what is funny- Noonan is trying to help!

[nopardons]

You just keep repeating that to yourself...since it delights your, utterly, to imagine PRESIDENT KERRY, or will it be Edwards ?

And IF the president isn't reelected, the vast majority on FR,who DO support his reelection will remember you and your ilk. We'll hold YOU accountable and never let you forget your Bushbashing.

Just why is it, that a whole lot of old timers, here, who haven't posted in years, are now crawling out of the woodwork, to trash the president? You guys and gals have how many nics ?

[A Citizen Reporter]

"Noonan just wants to hear only one thing from the White House: "You're hired, when can you start?"

Ha! If that didn't permeate from Peggy's column, nothing else did!.....In fact, if you listen very closely, you will hear it permeating from some other people on this thread who may have "consulted" candidates.....and need work.....

[A Citizen Reporter]

NO, It wasn't Ruth, it was Rose! I remember Rose, because I don't listen to Rush all that much anymore, but I was in the car when Rose went on her rant this week, and I will always remember that one. GO ROSE!!!!!

[SAR1]

Maybe I will join DU. Bush looks tired and distant. He is not connecting to people right now. He better watch out or he will end up like his father a one termer.

[Always Right]

She's panicking, calling Bush bumbling and his base scared.

Peggy wasn't panicking, she was just pointing out Bush's strengths and weaknesses. Peggy knows what it takes to win.

[Sabertooth]

But here's what was most interesting to me. The letters in disagreement were often passionate and insisted that Mr. Bush will be re-elected. They were so insistent that I realized: They're nervous out there, the Bush people. If they weren't so nervous, they wouldn't have cared about bad reviews. They wouldn't have been so insistent.

< -snip- >

A final note on a challenge for this particular administration in putting together the re-election paragraph and making it new. Normally White Houses have a built-in fear of their own political base. It's the base that holds a president's feet to the fire. The anxiety a base causes can be inspirational; it keeps you on your toes. George Bush the elder forgot to fear his base; they reminded him why he should have. George Bush the younger has, since 9/11, been very close with his base. But now, for the first time, that base is a little restless--over immigration, high spending, etc.

< -snip- >

Now for our challenge. What should the Bush paragraph consist of? How to make it new? How to make it memorable, and true? Readers, you are invited to wrap up in one paragraph what the Bush campaign should say as it unveils itself anew. The White House reads this site. They'll see it. Take the floor and tell them how to do it.

"I did not have Amnesty with that Illegal Alien..."

[SAR1]

If Bush isnt reelected like spit you will blame me. Blame him for not connecting to real americans and issues that matter to most people. All I am doing is pointing out the weak points and lets work on them. Oh but you cant stand constuctive criticsm, you just call it bushbashing.Stupid

[nopardons]

Oh, I see, you lost money in the Clinton BUBBLE ( the BUBBLE burst in the last week of March 200, and market went on its BEAR slide starting then! ), but YOU want to blame your losses on President Bush. You know what? Just stay out of the markets and place the blame on yourself, for your gains or losses. The market goes up and it goes down. That's what it's always done.

No wonder you don't post much...LOL

[Burkeman1]

I would just say he wasn't prepared for that interview and Noonan was right on in saying so. Any organization that suppresses bad news won't last. Noonan was telling the truth about Bush's performance. It was not only bad- but unsettling. And yes- he had better watch out and pay attention to people who criticize him but yet still want him re-elected.

[nopardons]

Me too!

[over3Owithabrain]

Peggy knows what it takes to win

Yeah, ok, a good paragraph!

[Porterville]

They are not trolls, they are from the old age, before trolls, a time long before DUers even knew about FR they are balrogs..

(From:http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/balrogs.html)

The Balrogs originated as Maiar, beings of the same kind as Sauron himself. They were primordial spirits of fire that had allied themselves with Melkor in ancient times, and became the most feared of his servants, especially during the Wars of Beleriand in the First Age. Details of their numbers are hard to state with certainty, but there seem to have been relatively few of them - probably no more than seven.

In appearance, the Balrogs were man-like, but fire streamed from them, and they were swathed in dark shadows. They carried whips of flame and induced great terror in friends and foes alike. In the War of Wrath, Morgoth was assailed by the forces of the Valar. Most of the Balrogs were destroyed in that War, but some few escaped over the Blue Mountains and hid in Middle-earth. Durin's Bane, the creature that drove the Dwarves from Moria, was one of these.

Balrogs were spirits of fire - their hearts were of fire, we are told, and they carried whips of flame. They could, however, shroud themselves in darkness and shadow. The Balrog that Gandalf fought in Moria, for example, at first gave no hint of his fiery nature apart from the flames that issued from his nostrils.

[Always Right]

All I am doing is pointing out the weak points and lets work on them. Oh but you cant stand constuctive criticsm, you just call it bushbashing.Stupid

I've seen the term Bushbot thrown around as a derogatory term for so long on this forum, I was sick of it and never liked the usage. But now I see some on this thread are actually earning that badge. Bush is not perfect.

[over3Owithabrain]

Bush isn't his dad. He finished off Saddam. He didn't raise taxes. He connects with average Americans. He knows how to win - wars and elections. Send in your absentee ballot for Kerry now and quit your bellyaching.

[SAR1]

Just trying to have an intelligent conversation thats all. I post too much, what the heck does that mean?

[Valin]

Split screen on one side a Jean Kerrey tossing some medals, on the other the President with his arm around the retired firefighter at ground zero. Below the caption "Who do you trust with the nation?"

[Valin]

9-11 and the Bush coattails got us the house and senate in 2002, which was truely a great thing. But we have not capitalized on it, not transformed the country the way it should have been with that much clout and power.

In two years? Give me a break.