A little over a week ago I began the title of a post: "Can't see the forest for the trees" in regard to the hysteria over the now defunct Dubai Ports World Deal. Nearly ten days have passed, President Bush's poll numbers are at an all time low, Republicans in Congress are scrambling for the tall grass and Senators like Chuck Schumer (Defeaticrat-New York) are preening like cats in the warm spring sunshine.
Again, trees here, trees there. No forest in sight.
And too often when I look around, I see fellow Republicans flexing their muscle in opposing President Bush on yet another issue as the governing majority that has been on the razor's edge since 2000 suffers the death of a thousand cuts.
I look around. I see trees. Some may fall to the ground, and along with them, the forest.
Folks, it's time to refocus on winning the war on terror. But to win that war, we need to win the battle for Congress in 2006. If we insist on dividing our strength over factional disagreements, we will lose this battle, and Democrats will likely see to it that we lose the wider war.
Talk about a risk that we cannot afford to take!
Should Democrats win control of either legislative body, you can expect them to wave the white flag of surrender in the war faster than you can say "Patriot Act!"
As a student of political science and a practitioner of the arts at the grass roots and in the White House, I study polls. And I've found no better resource than the Real Clear Politics poll averaging page. But while those numbers across the board paint a gloomy picture, there is really only one poll that matters and it won't be taken for another 242 days (November 7, 2006).
The conventional wisdom shows Republicans in some real danger here. But the conventional wisdom was wrong in 2002 and 2004. Had we listened to exit polls on the election night 2004, John Kerry would be president.
The situation is serious, but not hopeless and there are many strengths to our governing majority that have not been completely obliterated by infighting and disagreement.
The economy, always a key issue in every campaign is cranking along on all cylinders. Five million new jobs have been created since August 2003. But who knew? The story got buried, along with every other bit of good news in hysteria over the Dubai ports deal and before that, the hysteria over Vice President Cheney's shooting accident and before that the hysteria over "domestic spying" by the National Security Agency.
Along with the economy, national security is also a key issue. And right now, the punditocracy would tell you that it is the Democrats who have the edge on this issue. Even respected pollsters, like my highly accurate favorite Rasmussen show the President and Republicans overall being painted as less effective than previously in the war on terror.
Never mind that we haven't been struck again by terrorists in any significant way since September 11th. Never mind that all the defeatist Democrats, or Defeaticrats, have yet to see their doom and gloom scenario in Iraq become reality. Never mind that President Bush has been racking up fresh allies across the globe, from new leadership in Canada and Germany to previously more neutral countries like India.
If that message of success is constantly drowned out by the hysteria du jour, the overall effect is disheartening to those who know better, and downright frightening to those who pay less attention.
Leadership at ALL Levels is the Key
You know that old saying: "Too many chiefs, not enough Indians?" That pretty much describes the situation today. First, we have all those chiefs, the GOP members of the House and Senate, many of whom think they know better than the current White House team how to manage the issues and communicate the message.
But at the same time, many of those self-important potentates fail to provide the courage and leadership we expect from a chief. At the first sign of trouble they head for the bunker, or see which way the wind is blowing and head in that direction. The situation will only get worse as the contest for the 2008 presidential election heats up.
Sure, our Commander in Chief bears his share of responsibility. He's out there raising money left and right for the little chiefs when maybe he should spend a tad more time reworking the communications apparatus to win the battle for the airwaves first. But frankly, as easy as it is for many to point the finger and blame President Bush, I'm not about to validate that course further. He's got good people like Karl Rove working on the problem and they've been pretty darn successful these past few elections.
Lastly, it will be up to the Indians to do their part too. Not by acting like smaller versions of the smaller chiefs and demonstrating their dissatisfaction with President Bush or their independence. Neither independent Indians, or chiefs win elections.
Your responsibility: TO WIN!
Daniel Heninger wrote an excellent piece in Opinion Journal about the constant drumbeat of bad news, much of it now being validated by fellow conservatives. The fear is that the mushy middle ground of voters, who don't' pay much attention, and care even less, will get so discouraged by the constant negativity that they just vote for change. The one ace in the hole may be that as tired as voters get of the Bush team, when they look at Pelosi, Reid and Dean, they understand the alternative would be much worse.
It must be the primary responsibility of every conservative who understands what is at stake on November 7, 2006 to WIN the battle for congress! This means your efforts need to be focused less on what is wrong with President Bush and the Republican Party and what is right with President Bush and trumpet our manifold successes.
There are important philosophical arguments within the governing coalition about the course and direction of government and these should continue. I fully support the "Contract With America: Renewed and urge both Indians and chiefs to embrace this return to core conservative values.
And while it is perfectly acceptable to criticize how the governing majority has strayed from core principles, it is NOT acceptable to do so by validating the arguments of our opponents.
Doing so means that you will stand and watch one tree in the forest fall, after the other. And you will never see the forest, for there will be no trees left.
Unity is the key to victory in this battle and the wider war. The personal safety and well being of every American is at stake. We cannot afford to cut too many more trees from the forest.
Also posted at the Wide Awakes.
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