NYT: Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President

[FreeStateDemocrat]

Source: New York Times

By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: April 1, 2007
AUSTIN, Tex., March 29 — In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.

A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.
(cont'd)



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/washington/01adviser....

[calimary]

1. Hmmm... any significance to this coming out on April Fool's Day?

Sorry, just really suspicious. This is COLD COMFORT, mr. dowd. But then again, I can't even imagine how somebody could personally like bush. I just can't. Can't see it. Yes, I DO believe souls can be saved. But if you're still lulled into thinking bush is still just - aw, shucks - SUCH a nice guy, in my opinion you're still kidding yourself. And you're not redeemed in full.

[MADem]

2. Opportunistic whore for power is chastened by brutal reality.

Brutal reality that he would have seen had he only OPENED HIS EYES at the outset.

Cry me a river, Mister Dowd. You're a jerk. You enabled that sorry bastard. Reap what you've sown.

[Roland99]

8. Maybe he fears some skeletons of his to soon be revealed so ...

he's trying to get into good graces with those of us who are sane?

[MADem]

22. Trying to find his way back to the light, perhaps!!!

But he's one of those bastards that turns his back ong his true friends for craven opportunity--the old Bright Lights, Big City story.

Now he's sad that he abandoned us good folk in the Democratic Party. He's had his fun riding on the BushCo roller coaster, and he senses that he is about to become a fucking pariah.

Thus, he sobs. He explains. He mitigates.

Really, the only thing worse than an idiotic goose-stepping Republican is a Democrat who switched sides for purely opportunistic and selfish purposes. The latter is a bastard you really can't trust, because they're in it only for themselves.

[davekriss]

3. Opportunistic geek

Anyone who could claim to be a Democrat than switch parties to join Mr. Death Warrant's campaign in 2000 is a total opportunistic geek. No one should trust this person.

[biscotti]

4. Highly suspect line

disappointing Clinton years? I fear them infiltrating the Democratic Party. Wolves in sheep's clothing.

[UpInArms]

5. maybe Dowd and Stapphococolus can go and

console each other and see how much damage and how many lies they can tell.

[UpInArms]

6. ewwwww! this is creepy!

“When you fall in love like that,” he said, “and then you notice some things that don’t exactly go the way you thought, what do you do? Like in a relationship, you say ‘No no, no, it’ll be different.’ ”

"fall in love"??????

what is the world????

[sam sarrha]

7. Bu$hitCo is a Cult, the uses mind control and programing to manipulate its followers

and it is a death cult.. blood sacrifice to the wet brain alcoholic drug addict AWOL draft dodger narcissistic psychotic Megalomaniacal Man gOD.. who cant ride a bicycle.. or eat a pretzel..or speak english..

[LibDemAlways]

9. Mr. Dowd sold his soul and is now trying to undo his

bargain with the devil. He'd better watch his back and run like hell if cheney suggests a hunting trip or some fishing off a small boat.

[bling bling]

10. Said "the expected deployment of his son was an important factor"

From the article.

"His views against the war began to harden last spring when, in a personal exercise, he wrote a draft opinion article and found himself agreeing with Mr. Kerry’s call for withdrawal from Iraq. He acknowledged that the expected deployment of his son Daniel was an important factor."

At the end of the article he contemplates travelling to the continent of Africa to try and do good works. Probably a good idea buddy, you've done enough damage in this country for a whole lifetime by helping the BFEE get to power.

What kind of idiot Democrat would switch over to the Repubs because they fell in love with Bush. BUSH?? Come on now. He switched parties over BUSH?? What a loser.

[quiet.american]

11. At best, what a gullible fool this guy was.n/t

[Kolesar]

12. Why does the NY Times run crap like this?

One hurt little politico in Texas. That's not worth column space.

[Heidi]

13. Kick.

[rodeodance]

14. Former top election strategist breaks up with Bush: report

Source: afp



Former top election strategist breaks up with Bush: report
Sat Mar 31, 10:48 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - A man who played a key role in securing George W. Bush's reelection has become the first member of the president's inner circle to publicly break up with him insisting that Bush's 2004 rival, Democratic Senator John Kerry, was right on Iraq, The New York Times reported on its website late Saturday.

The newspaper said Matthew Dowd, who was the presidentÂ’s chief campaign strategist in 2004, now says his faith in Bush was misplaced and that Kerry was correct in calling for a withdrawal from Iraq.

In a wide-ranging interview in Austin, Texas, Dowd criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq, the report said.

He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Bush still approached governing with a "my way or the highway" mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides, the paper said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/uspoliticsbush ;_ylt=AjO9cDCcUDxb1UQcqr.Cs_nMWM0F

[Kolesar]

15. already busting Dowd on the NY Times version

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

in LBN

[rodeodance]

16. i see the mods moved my post--as I missed it earlier.

[Kolesar]

17. It's early in this time zone

:waking up:

[formercia]

18. Windsocky Syndrome

parasites.

[Vinca]

19. Is Matthew pimping a book or is this legitimate buyer's remorse?? nt

[Lerkfish]

21. either way, he sold us down the river for his own gain.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. The White House spokespeople are not criticizing Dowd--but wait for the Right Wing Noise Machine

It will be interesting to see whether Rush, Hannity etc. do their usual smear job on a Bush defector.

Frankly, I think that this comes as too little too late. I could see making a mistake in 2000 but by 2004 Dowd must have had some idea of what sort of man--and what sort of a leader--his president was.

I just finished watching "The Last King of Scotland" a story where a naive young Scottish doctor gets seduced by the charm and charisma of Idi Amin until his is forced to confront the true, horrific nature of his patron.

In this case, Dowd's son going to Iraq had a great deal to do with his decision to break with Bush. Well, cry me a river, pal. While I hope your son remains safe along with all the rest of our troops, you are personally responsible in no small part for electing the man who put him there.

[bemildred]

23. Bush ex-strategist says loses faith in president

Source: Reuters via Yahoo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief strategist of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign said he had lost faith in the U.S. president over Iraq and other issues, in a high-level rupture of Bush's famously loyal inner circle.

Matthew Dowd, a polling expert who switched parties to become a Republican and also served as a senior strategist in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, told The New York Times in an interview on Sunday that Bush must face up to Americans' growing disillusionment with the war.

---

"If the American public says they're done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want," Dowd said. "They're saying, 'Get out of Iraq."'

He also cited the administration's bungled handling of the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Bush's refusal to meet Cindy Sheehan, who had lost a son in Iraq, while she was leading a protest outside Bush's Texas ranch.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070401/pl_nm/bush_dowd_dc

[notadmblnd]

24. Must not have gotten the position he was promised

no payee no playee huh?

[daleo]

25. Well that took long enough

How dense can people be?

[hedgehog]

26. I wonder if this strategist had anything to do with counting the votes

in Ohio?