Should we say Bush is doing OK on Foreign Policy and focus on Domestic?

[VoteClark]

Bush is doing horrible on Foreign policy. However, most Americans don't care. We could bomb 2,000 elementary schools and hospitals and say we got a bad guy in the process and most Americans would say, "That is great! we got a bad man."

On the other hand, if the economy drops just 1/2 a percent Americans get upset and vote the politicians out.

Since most Americans don't pay attention to what is going on in Iraq, and the middle east, or anywhere in the world, and 60% plus of Americans are for the war. And on the other hand, 60% of Americans think poorly about the Economy.

Does it not make sense to concentrate on the economy to defeat Bush in the 2004 election?

The only people that seem to care about the abuses of Foreigners by US military might is Democrats. I think in order to get Republicans and Moderates on our side we need to attack Bush on the huge number of job loses, and the hurting market and economy.

I have listened to lots of Republicans and most of them don't like Bush. Not because of the war but because of the economy and how he is running up the US deficit and being fiscally liberal.

I just think for strategy reasons it might make sense to shift to economy and budget issues that all Americans can agree with Democrats on rather than focus on the issue of war where most Americans disagree of don't seem to care as much.

J4Clark

[CMT]

1. No

because he is not doing well on foreign policy. Most of the world hates us even more than usual due to his policies. We are the worldwide bully. His war on Iraq was agressive and wrong headed and took away from the war on terrorism. He seems intent to find Saddam but rarely mentions Bin-Ladden the mastermind of the trade tower attacks. If we concede foreign policy to him when his foreign policy has been so inept we are giving him an advantage which he doesn't deserve. His foreign policy, imo, is very much on the table and if vigorously debated will prove to be a liability for Bush.

[VoteClark]

4. I agree but if most Americans don't then how do you plan to beat Bush.

If you think about it. If we lose, Bush will be there for 4 more years to make more people hate us. I think we should defeat him on the economy issue, then get in there to change our foreign policy. Americans don't care, name one moderate that is against this war?

J4Clark

[CMT]

8. I think he is vulnerable on both the economy and FP

his foreign policy blunders are already coming to haunt him in Iraq with more and more of our soldiers dying and getting bogged down there and more families of soldiers expressing publically there frustration and doubts.

[VoteClark]

9. I agree but, we should be careful

[punpirate]

2. It's not the truth...

... so, why say it?

Cheers.

[killbotfactory]

3. You can tie the economy to Bush's horrible foreign policy

I think it would be a mistake to concede any issue to Bush.

We are spending about $4 billion dollars and dozens of lives a month occupying a country which posed no threat to us, for dubious reasons, with little to no benefit to Americans and a lot of drawbacks, and with no definite timetable on when we're going to leave.

And the number of people who support the war is dropping.

[VoteClark]

6. Yes it dropped from 75% to 65%, how do you get to 49%?

[killbotfactory]

15. I thought I read that the people who don't think the war was worth it...

was at 54%.

The only way you can change conventional wisdom is by challenging it. You just have to present the case that Bush lied to get us into a war which has cost us billions in a time of economic uncertainty, did not save us from terrorists or make the world more secure.

If the war continues on as it is doing now, it would be foolish to let Bush have a free pass.

[Ilsa]

5. We concede nothing,

especially if it isn't true. His foreign policy has Americans fearful about travelling overseas. They even advised air transportation to prepare for another attack. I agree that his foreign policy is horrible, and I don't think telling the independents and moderates otherwise is helpful to our cause if Rove manages to puch their "security alarm" buttons right before the election. Too many Americans still buy into Republican lies that they are better for US security.

[VoteClark]

7. Which more important?

Focus on the foreign policy and lose, or focus on the economy and win?

[chesley]

10. yes

I've been saying this for some time. America does not care if the French are mad. America does not care if the UN is mad. The only way GWB will be beaten is 1 - if the economy is bad, and 2 - if the Democrats can convince Americans that they can defend the country better than GWB can. Frankly, and I hate to be a pessimist, I don't see either being true at the time of the election. I know in the past year, my personal economy has improved immensely. While that doesn't affect my vote or preferred candidate, it will a lot of people if this happens all over.

[OneBlueSky]

11. Hell, NO!!!

it's all part and parcel of the same cheap-labor conservative, red-ink Republican campaign to break the bank of the US government and break the backs of working Americans . . . can't separate foreign policy from the economy, no way, no how . . . and besides, BushCo deserves to get hammered on what is undoubtedly the worst foreign policy in history . . .

[lcordero]

12. Bush is a dismal failure on EVERYTHING

http://www.wage-slave.org/scorecard.html

Not one free pass should be given to him on anything.

[clar]

13. No

Bush is vulnerable on both fronts. Attack him whenever there's bad domestic or foreign policy news. Soldiers are dying everyday in Iraq. Afghanistan is descending ever further into chaos. To be sure all things are in a constant state of flux and Democrats need to be finely attuned to opportunities to attack. Concede nothing.

[Kahuna]

14. Absolutely not! Bush is vulnerable on ALL issues and should be

attacked as such. Especially national security and jobs loss. With health care and rising healthcare premiums pulling up the rear.

[pansypoo53219]

16. HELL NO INDEED

He is a fuckup whatever he does.

[ButterflyBlood]

17. perhaps we should focus on the economy more

but we should NOT say Bush is doing a good job.

[dsc]

18. We tried that in 2002

and it didn't work. We can't be just the anti Bush party when it comes to FP but we must have a cogent critique of it. This war is a disaster and that fact is starting to come home. Presumedly it is only going to get worse. As the death a day war drags on people will get fed up. We need to remind people about Osama Bin Forgotten and Saddam Who has seen. The DNC should run ad, after ad, after ad of day x and Osama is still at large. By election day it will be 1000 days of Osama Bin Forgotten. And at the current rate close to 500 'post war' death in Iraq. The other ads should be of the faces, pictures, and families of each of the peace time death intersperced with the chaos that Iraq is now. Tie it up as incompetence at home, in competence abroad, and a vacationing President who doesn't give a damn.

[poskonig]

19. Stay the course.

If we are still talking about Iraq in 2004, Bush is in deep doo-doo.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

20. Bush has failed us on many fronts!

I have no sympathy for him!

[DrFunkenstein]

21. Bush Isn't Wrong, He's Incompetent

I think it's a very hard sell to the American public that taking out people like Saddam, Osama, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda is a bad thing. But Bush blundered at every step imaginable. From using warlords to failing to secure Baghdad and the WMD sites to putting Turkey in a position where it could not assist us, on the most basic tactical level Bush couldn't get the job done.

I think the strategy should be to push people like Kerry as Powell Democrats, as opposed to the Pentagon chickenhawks like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. I think Dean will have a hard time aligning himself with Powell after trashing him so thoroughly. But the American public loves Powell, and think his is the path to follow.

That is one reason why I think Kerry will prevail over Dean. Like Johnson said about Cronkite, I think if you lose Powell, you lose the American people.

For the record, I do think Bush is wrong, and I have no trust in Powell. But I am much further to the Left, and much better informed than the people that watch network news.