Frameshop: New Beginnings vs Responsibility/Iraq

[katty]

cont'd at:
http://jeffrey-feldman.typepad.com/frameshop/2005/11/frameshop_new_b.html

By: Jeffrey Feldman

Frameshop: 'New Beginnings' vs 'Responsibility'
With silence from the White House over the past few days, it seems clear that the Bush team is busy trying to rework their untenable position on Iraq into some kind of new spin that can be pumped into the media in time for Christmas.

Given their emphasis over the past week on 'staying the course' until the 'job is done,' it seems likely that the next big PR push from the White House will be some kind of 'new beginning' argument.

To keep an upper hand in debate, it will be absolutely vital for the Democrats not to maintain control of the 'new beginnings' frame.

The Democrats under the leadership of Senator Russ Feingold and House Rep John Murtha have been calling for a new policy in Iraq. Feingold has called for a 'timetable' outlining what steps will be taken by the President, and when, leading up to a full scale winding down of American troops in Iraq. Murtha has called for an immediate end to the current mission, a return of American soldiers, and the establishment of a new, smaller and more nimble American strike force on the ground in Iraq.

But both of these arguments have been persistently undercut by Democratic members of Congress who are calling for the President to give the nation 'a plan.' Senator Biden is currently the leading voice on this position.