The Permanent Republican Presidency: What the Democrats can do to ensure that it happens
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 11:26am. Steven Jonas
Karl Rove originally set out to establish the Permanent Republican Majority (PRM), his version of The Thousand Year Reich. The combination of Bush's foreign military and domestic economic policies have likely put an end to any hope for the Georgites to achieve that goal in the foreseeable future. However, for a variety of reasons, a Permanent Republican Presidency (PRP) is very much achievable. Working for whomever the Republican nominee is (and I still think it will be Giuliani), Rove will remain heavily invested in achieving this goal.
There will be a variety of factors working in his favor. However, the Democrats are likely to have a (relatively) permanent majority in the Congress and a majority of the country's voters now are either Democrats or self-styled independents. Thus to achieve the PRP, Rove is going to need some help. Here are some thoughts on what the Democratic Presidential candidates and eventual nominee can do to assist the establishment of the PRP. I am sure Rove is counting on them to do their part, as he has so often been able to do in the past.
On Iraq
It is becoming ever more clear that the Georgite goal in Iraq is Permanent War (see my BF Commentary, The CheneyBush War Policy: Connecting the Dots). It happens to be a major element of their PRP strategy. Bush cares not a whit about that nation itself or the Iraqi people themselves. What he does care about is the ongoing American presence in Iraq, the ongoing violence in Iraq, yes the creation of new potential terrorists in Iraq, one major goal of the whole Georgite Iraq effort being precisely creating the conditions for the creation of the PRP.
To ensure the PRP, it is vital that none of the Democratic constituencies, especially the Presidential candidates, raise Bush's Permanent War as an issue. Further, it is vital that the Presidential candidates must present positions on Iraq that are nuanced, not black-and-white (and most of them do). They must surely not talk about immediate withdrawal. They must surely not talk about any "third way," that is neither stay forever nor precipitously withdraw (see my BF Commentary, The Third Way Out of Iraq). Doing so will cause vast numbers of potential anti-Iraq War voters to say "see, there is really no difference between the two parties" and just not go to the polls, and it will virtually ensure the entry of a third party, immediate withdrawal candidate. Just what Rove wants.
On George Bush
To ensure the creation of the PRP, it is vital that Democratic commentators/analysts persist in the delusion that Bush is being delusional about Iraq and just about everything else (See my BF Commentary: Deranged, Delusional, NOT). He knows exactly what the reality is and persists in his policies precisely because he likes what he sees and wants it. But, heavens, we must never say that and attack him directly. No, let's just persist in calling him a raving lunatic.
The Constitution and the Assault Upon It
To ensure the creation of the PRP, at all costs, all of the Democratic constituencies must avoid this issue. With a few brave exceptions here and there among the left-wing commentators, the rank-and-file, and Senators Leahy and Reid and Rep. Conyers, most of them do. "Can't win an election" on those issues, many say. Well, as you know, this is the number one issue facing the country, even more important than Iraq. We had better figure out ways to bring it into the campaign, for as a sign in my dentist's office says about your teeth, "if you don't take care of them, they will just go away." Under the Georgites, the Constitution, described by the Head George as "just a scrap of paper," is doing a fantastic disappearing act.
The Big Lie Technique
Under Rove's tutelage, Bush and the Georgites have become past masters at the Big Lie Technique. It is a major weapon in their campaign to create the PRP. There is a counter to The Big Lie Technique. It's called The Big Truth Technique. But using it requires positions be taken that are not nuanced, not on-the-one-hand-this-and-on-the-other-hand-that, not equivocal. They are just like the positions taken by the Big Lie technique, except that they are true. The establishment of the PRP cannot happen if the Democrats go into an all-out attack mode, on Bush and the major Republican strategies and tactics. But gee, that would be so un-Democrat-like. Nah, couldn't have that, now could we? Why if we did, our side might actually be able to win the Presidency in 2008, and the PRP would become just as much of a Rove pipe-dream as is the Permanent Republican Majority.
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and a weekly contributing author for The Political Junkies. This column is based in part on one that appeared on The Political Junkies.net on August 29, 2007.
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