Robert Parry | Bush Throws Down the Gauntlet

...and we accept your challenge, Dirtbag!

Robert Parry Bush Throws Down the Gauntlet:

George W. Bush - breaking with an earlier Republican campaign strategy for localizing congressional races - is nationalizing Election 2006 around his vision of fighting 'World War III' against Islamic militants and in defense of his claim to broad presidential powers, such as the right to lock up people he deems 'enemy combatants.'

In effect, Bush is gambling that the Right's powerful media apparatus, Republican organizational advantages and the residual fear from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks will trump the Democrats' abilities to convince the American people that Bush's vision represents a dire threat to the future of their democratic Republic.

Bush unveiled his new strategy for holding onto Republican congressional majorities this past week by making his demand for expansive powers, including the authority to deny habeas corpus rights to detainees, the preeminent issue in the final days before the congressional recess.
Bush also blasted Democrats for criticizing his handling of the Iraq War.

'Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on the American homeland in our history, the Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction and endless second-guessing,' Bush told a GOP fundraising event in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sept. 28. 'The party of F.D.R. and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run.'

So, instead of what Republican strategists had described as their plan for localizing the congressional races and 'disqualifying' Democratic candidates through attack ads that highlighted ethical lapses and 'bad votes' on hot-button issues, the final five weeks of Campaign 2006 now appear focused on Bush's stewardship of the 'war on terror.'