Posted on 05/15/2003 5:58:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON -
Jennifer Mann flipped from channel to channel for the latest news about the terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia, an exercise in frustration for the Democratic state legislator from Pennsylvania.
"Everywhere I turned, there was President Bush (news - web sites)," she said with a sigh.
Mann, a rising star in the Democratic Party's moderate wing, recalled her Tuesday night TV vigil to explain why the Republican president retains high approval ratings despite a sluggish economy and polls that show widespread doubts about his tax-cutting recipes.
"He was on every channel talking about getting the bad guys who did this and how we're going to track them down and kill them," she said. "He's done a very effective job at turning people's attention away from the economy and playing to people's emotions."
Mann's lament was echoed by several other party leaders as they emerged Wednesday from closed-door strategy sessions staged by the Democratic Leadership Council. The centrist organization helped former President Clinton (news - web sites) climb from the Arkansas Statehouse to the White House.
The Democrats urged their party's presidential candidates to make the economy — not terrorism — the prevailing issue in 2004. They said the trick is to cast America's economic woes as a dire national security concern while questioning Bush's efforts to improve homeland security.
"We cannot concede international issues to George Bush. We can't do it. And right now, I'm not sure any Democratic candidate has stepped up to the plate," said Michael Coleman, the first Democratic mayor of Columbus, Ohio, in 32 years.
"I think we have to show we are tough on national security," said Ken Cheuvront, a state senator in Arizona, which has the potential of becoming a key state in the race for nomination delegates. "And I don't think our (presidential candidates) have shown that yet."
Some have tried, but in a field of nine candidates they get little notice.
Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record) of Florida has criticized Bush's anti-terrorism efforts since the start of his presidential campaign. "Al-Qaida was on the ropes 12 to 14 months ago, but we didn't pursue the war in Afghanistan (news - web sites) to its conclusion and break al-Qaida's backbone," he said after Tuesday's deadly car bomb attacks in Riyadh.
Clinton, who spoke to the DLC in private Wednesday, said the 2004 Democratic candidates must incorporate strong positions on national security as they spell out why they are running for president.
"I think on balance they're doing pretty well," the former president said in an interview with The Associated Press. "They need to keep making their philosophy clear."
The DLC members warmly embraced Clinton, and said his campaigns are a model for this year's Democratic presidential crop.
Coleman, the Columbus mayor, said the former president made security the philosophical centerpiece of his 1992 campaign against Bush's father by promising more jobs, better health care and safer streets.
"Security means something different today," the mayor said, "but Democrats can still make it their issue."
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, national security is a top issue — one that normally favors Republicans, the mayor said. But just as Clinton borrowed the Republican's anti-crime message in the 1990s, the right Democratic message can steal Bush's thunder, Coleman said.
"President Reagan asked, `Are you better off than you were four years ago?' That is not the question now. The question is, will you be any more secure four years from now under Bush? Security means safe from terrorism. But it also means economic security. It also means homeland security. It also means security in your neighborhoods, from crime."
"Bush is vulnerable across the board," the mayor said.
He said Democrats should criticize Bush's failure get states and cities more money to improve the front lines of terrorism defense — police and fire departments, as well as other emergency services.
Mann, in her second term as a lawmaker in Pennsylvania, said Democrats can "break even on foreign policy" by talking just as tough against as Bush and, eventually, the economy will emerge as the key issue.
"Every election is about people's pocketbooks," Mann said.
That's why TV footage of a vengeance-seeking Bush did not dim her hopes for a Democratic president in 2005, she said. "Actually, I admired it. Acts like the Saudi bombing cannot be tolerated and we must do everything we can to stop them and bring those who harm us to justice," Mann said.
"There's no doubt that Bush is good at talking about our fears, but the time will come when people will look at the lost jobs, the higher deficit and this economic mess," she said.
"We're just not there yet."
The dirty little secret that the Dems are trying hard to avoid is that the economy is improving. Look at the "Help Wanted" ads in your local paper. They are getting thicker and thicker by the week.
There are jobs out there for anyone who wants one.
No doubt she only defends abortion-on-demand through the first 10 or 11 months of pregnancy.
Say what?
The chief reason why the Dems are taking it on the chin over the war are that they do nothing but carp, whine, complain, and drag their feet.
Clinton fought several wars, and shot missiles all over the place, and I don't remember that they did him much good, or the Republicans any harm.
Yeah, until you get attacked on your own soil, then you start thinking about the hide on your back instead of the hide in your back pocket.
For the first time ever, I actually agree with Bubba, a.k.a. X-42.
They should continue to express their "philosophy" of corruption, pacifism, socialism and racism...
And, like the little elitist empty-headed little trolls they are, they'll never understand why nobody buys into their arguments, anymore....
9/11 finally woke people up... Not only to the perils of terrorism, but also to the fact that the liberals are terrorists... On a cultural basis.
I hope they keep it up... So they can get smoked in the next elections... :-)
Not if you live in California... :-\
Is it "Not if you live in California" --or-- "Not if you live in California and do not speak Spanish?"
It is unfortunate that so many good people live in California and have to put up with the shortsighted policies of the ruling Democrats. While the rest of the nation awakes from economic slumber, Californians continue to suffer.
Any state that is run by people who are so stupid they would cut police and fire departments instead of searching out the bloat and waste that exists doesn't deserve to be bailed out.
States need to set proper priorities and cut the things that must be cut and make sure that police and fire departments are strengthened. It's like a bunch of kids who get in debt, expect their parents to bail them out, and continue to drive that hot car and throw money around to their friends. Cut the extras FIRST and then we'll talk.
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