Bush is designated "optimist in chief" by the New York Times today. But his political optimism uses the same kind of language as his upbeat prognosis for Iraq. His team is in full spin mode to deny reality, just like Iraq. They're using the same playbook because Iraq has always been a political issue for the White House. They even have the inside information that the situation for them is dire:
A strategist close to the White House said Mr. Bush's own political team had polling that showed as many as 14 House seats were probably already lost to Democrats, just one shy of the 15 seats they need to gain to win control.They're not just unrealistic, they're delusional across the board at the White House. Bush, Rove and Mehlman really think they can spin their way out of everything. But even GOP insiders dismissed a recent insiders conference call by Mehlman as "happy talk."
Though White House aides said that account was exaggerated, they acknowledged that polls have shown at least that many races with Democrats leading Republicans. "Their attitude is, 'We've got our backs against the wall, but we know how to fight our way out of this,'" said Charles Black, a Republican strategist who has been in regular contact with Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's senior adviser. "They're not unrealistic, but they're optimistic that we can still win."
I'm trying to understand their message on national security. They want to scare Americans by showing pictures of the terrorists who attacked America. But, those are the terrorists still on the loose because Bush never captured them. Instead, he went to war in Iraq. According to the National Intelligence Estimate, that war in Iraq has strengthened the terrorists. Every time the GOP focuses on Bin Laden, they are highlighting their failures.
