That is Doug Schoen at Huffington Post putting forth the very Iraq strategy that we here have been condemning..
After Petraeus, Conciliation: The Report Must Not Derail a Moderate Democratic Strategy On the heels of General Petraeus' report, there is no doubt a temptation in the Democratic camp to dismiss the more unsavory findings as the work of a political lackey. The general did not recommend a substantive timetable for withdrawal, much to the ire, though not surprise, of the Left. Also unsurprisingly, he argues that there has been modest progress.
The situation in Iraq is deteriorating, improving, or staying the same, depending on who is asked. To dispute minor improvement accomplishes little. If the Democrats are serious about winning in Iraq, building their majority, and taking the White House, they will "stay the course" -- the moderate course of the past few weeks, that is.
Ooh, that so angers me.
Here is more about that Doug Schoen. He was partners with Mark Penn, one of the Clinton's main advisors now.
Hillary Inc.After the 1994 election, Democrats had just lost both houses of Congress, and President Clinton was floundering in the polls. At the urging of his wife, he turned to Dick Morris, a friend from their time in Arkansas. Morris brought in two pollsters from New York, Doug Schoen and his partner, Mark Penn, a portly, combative workaholic. Morris decided what to poll and Penn polled it. They immediately pushed Clinton to the right, enacting the now-infamous strategy of "triangulation," which co-opted Republican policies like welfare reform and tax cuts and emphasized small-bore issues that supposedly cut across the ideological divide. "They were the ones who said, 'Make the '96 election about nothing except V-chips and school uniforms,'" says a former adviser to Bill. When Morris got caught with a call girl, Penn became the most important adviser in Clinton's second term. "In a White House where polling is virtually a religion," the Washington Post reported in 1996, "Penn is the high priest."
This Doug Schoen.
Penn, Schoen & Berland, Mark Penn a pollster for Hillary. Just in Venezuela.In his article, "Coup D'etat in Disguise," Jonathan Mowat described how these "polls" work:
"Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially "exit polls," in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support...the deployment of polling agencies' "exit polls" broadcast on international television...give the false impression of massive vote-fraud by the ruling party, to put targeted states on the defensive."(4)
The U.S. is already firmly entrenched in Venezuela with "democracy promotion" organizations such as the NED, USAID, and yes, once again, Penn, Schoen & Berland. These actors have teamed up with major opposition groups to map out and execute their strategy. The objective will be to create a situation like in Ukraine in 2004: huge protests against the elections and against the government in order to cause chaos and instability. Basically, it comes in three parts."
NOW...back to the Huffington Post blog by Schoen...he is praising Harry Reid for backing off a tough line on Iraq and for calling for bipartisanship. This should show who gives the advice and the orders in the party.
After months of demanding a hard-and-fast deadline for an American troop withdrawal, Harry Reid recently changed his tune, calling for a strongly bipartisan approach. The move was both sound policy and shrewd politics; it puts the security of American troops first, and ultimately sets the Democratic Party up for victory in 2008.
Gone is the posturing and preaching that marked Reid's pronouncements earlier in the year (when he announced solemnly that the war in Iraq was "lost.") The new Reid appears better in touch with reality: Democrats simply do not have the votes to force a unilateral withdrawal, and advocating such a position is bad for America and bad for the Democratic Party.
The Petraeus report must not distract from this logic.
Well, Doug, I had been wondering about Reid's change of tone. I frankly preferred the tougher stance.
I think our Democrats are still getting too much advice from consultants who have failed us before.
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