As G.O.P. Mopes, Bush Adds the Title of Optimist in Chief

[DoYouEverWonder]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 — The capital is filled with Republicans convinced that they will lose the House and maybe the Senate. So last week, the White House and party leaders convened a “friends and allies” teleconference to dispute what Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, considers flawed conventional wisdom.

For 20 minutes, Mr. Mehlman and the White House political director, Sara Taylor, tried to lift the cloak of gloom that has descended on the top ranks of Republican strategists, using what one of the dozens of lobbyists, donors, party aides and other supporters who listened in later called “happy talk.”

President Bush and his political strategists may be the most outwardly optimistic Republicans in Washington these days, and perhaps the only ones. They are doing their best to fend off the sense of impending doom within their party that they fear will become a self-fulfilling prophecy on Nov. 7.

They are enlisting longtime allies for an all-hands-on-deck effort to change the mood for the final push to Election Day, and they are putting out the word for Republicans to keep a lid on any pessimistic talk. They are also planning a travel blitz for Mr. Bush during the final week to 10 days of the campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/us/politics/23bush.html?hp&ex=1161576000&en=4762f7c47334e900&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[aquart]

1. Awww. They still think PR is all it takes.

[knowbody0]

2. like tie the dude to the front deck of the titanic

let him shout "stay the course" into oblivion.

[soothsayer]

3. "happy talk" to each other, FEAR talk for the rest of us!

[C_U_L8R]

4. Bush fiddles as Bagdad burns

bet he even has a toga from his frat party days

[babylonsister]

5. And Rove was on CSPAN this weekend, accepting some lame

ass award, dissing Dems and claiming how strong the party is. He's a little man who a bunch of brainwashed people revere. He disgusts me.

[Jim Sagle]

6. Why not impeach them for loitering with intent to mope?

[grytpype]

7. Is your Recommending finger broken?

This is the most hilarious article I've read yet on the election. My favorite bits:

The president’s professed certainty, shared with outside friends and advisers, is a source of fascination among even his staunchest allies. In lobbying shops and strategy firms around town, the latest Republican parlor game is divining whether the White House optimism is staged, or whether Mr. Bush and his political team really believe what they are saying.

and

His schedule has not seemed as packed as Mr. Snow and other aides predicted last month, when they said he was likely to be on the road almost constantly through October. The president’s schedule for this week shows him campaigning on only two days, Tuesday and Thursday, in Florida, Iowa and Michigan.

[TheWatcher]

8. "As GOP mopes, Bush shrugs it off, confident that Voting Machines

will save day."

[Demeter]

9. At Last Bush Returns to His Life Work: Cheerleading!

After all, it's the only thing he has experienced without visible failure.

[stanwyck]

20. I wonder if he can still fit

into his cheerleading uniform.
I know I can't.
And even I couldn't work up the pep needed to cheerlead this fiasco to the final buzzer.
Shake those pom poms, Dubya.
You're doing a helluva job.

[tanyev]

10. "I'm the Delusioner! I'M the Delusioner!"

[JerseygirlCT]

11. Increased his dosage, have they? nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Sure looks like they did

[sabra]

13. kick

:kick:

[pinerow]

14. Hehehe...I can't remember the last time I used the word "Mopes"

nt

[hatrack]

15. Reminds me of an actual song from wartime Japan

The lyrics included such classic lines as:

"The big sky is full of iron defenses,
Come on, enemy planes! Come on many times."

No, I'm not making this up.

But yeah, sure, please Unca Ken, feel free to fob this clown off on us - in fact, why not just have him jump out of a little car with a couple of Cabinet members?

You could even have Prozac logos on the hood, just like NASCAR.

[Beetwasher]

16. Rah! Rah! Rah! Sis! Boom! Bah!

[goforit]

17. Hilarious! Pessimistic with terror threats when they are up and optimistic

with elated cheer when they're down.
A wally world of psychopaths.

[TexasLawyer]

18. What-- Me Worry?????

[VegasWolf]

19. Fantastic! With Bush's approval in the 30's, send the mofo out "everywhere

for the last 10 days." That should seal it for the Democrats!

[BigDDem]

21. By all means, hit the road

may I suggest Ohio and Rhode Island?

[robbedvoter]

22. "I remember 2004. It was history as far as punditry was concerned"

Yup. Punditry, exit polls and common sense. I also remember 2004 and he's got some chutzpa to still use that "victory" as argument.

[geniph]

23. No Brain, No Pain!

:eyes: