Milbank, Kurtz address Dems' Katrina response, "message"

Message Chaos Afflicts Both Parties as Katrina Aftermath Washes Discipline Away
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; Page A04


....Katrina has washed away party discipline in Washington. With President Bush submerged -- a Gallup poll released yesterday showed that his support has actually fallen to 40 percent since his prime-time speech from Louisiana last week -- Republicans decided to stake out their own positions. And Democrats, with no obvious party leader, are quarreling over message and messenger....

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The message chaos in the governing party would seem to present an opportunity for the Democrats. But the opposition party is itself divided. Oppose Roberts? Pull out of Iraq? Repeal tax cuts? Democrats are split -- and leaderless.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean took a turn as party leader last week, comparing Roberts to DeLay and Bush aide Karl Rove. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has also vied to speak for the party, calling Bush "oblivious, in denial, dangerous."

On Sunday, former president Bill Clinton took his turn as party leader, attacking the Bush tax cuts. Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards, his former running mate, gave dueling auditions for party leader on Monday.

Yesterday, Reid took the party's reins. Apparently unable to settle on a theme for a morning news conference with Pelosi, the two leaders' news bulletin promised a smorgasbord: Katrina, the federal budget, judicial nominations and the Voting Rights Act....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092001608.html


ON EDIT: Howie Kurtz has a different slant --

Democrats On Offense
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; 8:57 AM

John Kerry and John Edwards rip Bush over Katrina. Bill Clinton blasts the tax cuts. Harry Reid says he'll vote against Roberts.

A more aggressive Democratic opposition, washed in by the hurricane, appears to be finding its voice.

Whether it's a winning message or not remains to be seen. But liberals who feel the Beltway Dems have been way too timid for the last four years must be pouring the champagne.

In the case of Kerry and Edwards, the '08 positioning by the '04 boys couldn't be more obvious.

With Bush's poll ratings at record lows, the thought crossed my mind: What if Katrina had struck a year ago? Could it have changed the outcome of the election?...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

but I think he's right, on all the things he's said except for the '08 positioning by Kerry and Edwards.

He's also, as always, unfair to Kerry - who's speech included a vision and a call to activism to correst the problems - the two speeches are very compatible, but Kerry's had a far broader view of the problem and its solutions.

(Kurtz was the one who insisted that his comment that Kerry lied about Bush's SS plan was correct even after he announced a plan exactly like Kerry described, because Kerry's cost estimates came from a Budget office model, not a released Bush's plan - which didn't exist.)