Iraq: Shouldn't we be more clearly labelling this as "Bush's War?"

There can be no doubt in any sane person's mind that this war/occupation is completely Bush's baby and that he deserves any blame or credit.

REGARDLESS of IWR votes which I agree do damage JK's credibility (and that of the Dem party in general), we should be trumpeting the fact that the war and the shape of its aftermath is Bush's responsibility. How can any sensible person doubt that if not for Bush and his PNAC cabal of Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, et. al. there would be no Iraq II war. The only RW talking point otherwise is a lame one, which one DOES occasionally see and hear, about how the Clinton administration introduced a policy of "regime change" against Iraq, implying but not quite saying that it was essentially inevitable that the US would invade Iraq under either a Dem or Repub admin, which is laughable given the intensity of the propaganda campaign waged to "sell" this.

Is the JK campaign refraining from this because

1) They are waiting until later for their biggest attacks

2) They are "watching to see which way the wind blows", afraid that if the war starts "going well" (less dead Americans) that people will love shrub and the criticism will backfire?

3) of his IWR vote

4) JK campaign feels that the events and their coverage speak for themselves, and the damage is already being done without their having to be shrill about it

or other? Please explain, I feel we should be firmly hanging this around shrub's neck.

As for #4, my concern is that Shrub should be down at least several % in most polls by now and it is very disturbing that he is as "even" as he is. I'm not in despair, I think we're overall in good shape but was expecting to be in a lot better shape by now.

I realize that there is an ebb and flow to campaigns and I am a political novice, but I understand that the "ebb and flow" is not an inevitable feature. Like, Clinton assumed the lead over Dole at a certain point, and never really relinquished it or was in trouble after that. Etc. Thoughts on this, and the strategy (or lack thereof) involved?

a "war president". He was down in the polls. They needed a dose of patriotism and some "boots on the ground" to get the flags waving.

with a bit of 4 mixed in.

This war isn't going to get any better, not while Bush is in office. The American deaths are escalating out of control. The American casualties are going up even faster.

I figure that sometime around September 11, if he's got a brain in his head, he will begin the process of turning Osama bin Laden into Bush's running mate. Naturally, the Republicans will start screaming politics.

We need to be ready for this, and have in the can an ad where a cast-iron pot and a cast-iron kettle are sitting next to each other. "Politics? The Republicans are accusing John Kerry of playing politics with 9/11? With the War on Iraq?" And then we play snippets of the "Kerry would have sent your heroes to Iraq in steel pots and green uniforms" ad and the "Mission Accomplished" banner.

We need to find out what buying a full-color double-truck ad in USA Today costs. A double-truck is a two-page ad that runs across a centerspread. On it we put a two-page impression of the "Mission Accomplished" banner--with a big red X over Shrub's face.

Kerry will not have to do much now. The Iraq occupation is another miserable failure. The howls of betrayal from the Arab world will reach a crescendo soon and they will demand that the US leave the middle east altogether.

I encourage every DUer to STAND UP and take back America !

Kerry has done a marvelous job in standing up and fighting back....he has acted like a real President, and impressed many Americans....

there are plenty of nasty reTHUGlicans who are trying to GORE Kerry....by spending hours and hours on their reTHUGlican-controlled media bashing Kerry, a REAL Vietnam HERO, and trashing Kerry as a terrible Catholic, and trying to spin Kerry as a 'waffle'.....


after spending over $50 Million dollars attacking Kerry, the reTHUGlicans are still going backwards....high-priced political consultants like karen hughes cost TONS of MONEY....and all she's doing is enforcing the TRUE reTHUGlican Taliban-values against women....right after a MILLION women were forced to come to DC to tell bush* to STOP degrading women....


today, an American Soldier STOOD UP and slammed bush* in the Democratic Radio reply to bush* inane and insane remarks....these are REAL PEOPLE.....and they stand up for Kerry, because he is the REAL DEAL.....

America is looking for a leader....the same LEADER that came home a hero from Vietnam, and ended that debacle is NOW going to lead America...let's support Kerry and get others to join us...Kerry can lead us out of this Iraq mess and end the war, and also, make our economy work again, take care of our seniors and people with disabilities, make education a priority, create an honorable military, fight terrorism, and lead US forward to be GREAT again....

go JFK....beat bush*
www.JohnKerry.com

is what this action should be called. Support for Bushcheney remains high while we are beginning to see a majority of Americans who now believe war was a bad idea. This indicates to me that the numbers supporting Bush* are not strong.

I think many Americans believe its wrong to vocally criticize the commander in chief while our troops are in harm's way because it may undermine morale. However, most will not hesitate to express their opinion at the ballot box when the time comes. These silent Americans believe it is their role in a representative democracy to keep quiet except on election day.

Events on the ground in Iraq while do much more to mold American opinion than political speeches or mudslinging. Kerry must let these events speak for themselves and articulate a strategy people can understand over the interference of the punditocracy. He must sharpen his ability to keep certain items in the news and quickly respond to smears with counter-attacks that are even more newsworthy. I believe his poll numbers will rise and fall in direct proportion to how he is able to succeed in these two areas over the next six months.

and I don't see anyone calling for the repeal of IWR and introducing a resolution calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

Both parties have blood on their hands, as they did during Vietnam!

Then we have Guerre du buisson!, Buschkrieg!, Guerra di cespuglio!,
De Oorlog van struik!, Guerra da mata!, Busks Krig!. In any language,
it's BUSH'S WAR!
Oh, you don't have to know the language...

http://ets6.freetranslation.com/

but any name that will hang around his neck like an albatross will do.

However, since any voters who will base their votes on the Bush Invasion of Iraq have already made up their minds, I do not think that Kerry should call it the Bush Invasion of Iraq. Since the invasion is water under the bridge, Kerry should continue to focus on the necessity and wisdom of getting more international involvement in the occupation and reconstruction so that American troops can come home sooner.

I do refer to the "Next Bush War" when discussing which country God likely will tell Bush to attack next. Kerry might consider having some surrogates use this phrase.

I ALWAYS refer to it as "Bush's war in Iraq," just as I refer to Bush's war on the poor, and Bush's war on the environment, and Bush's war on the Constitution, and Bush's war against truth.

People who do not realize that this administration is leading this country to a totalarian form of government have their heads in the sand.