Monday, October 10, 2005
The Master Narrative
There is the sense that the midterm elections could spell the same sort of perfect storm that led to the Republican Revolution in 1994. Then, the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, was able to create a master narrative of Democrats who were out of touch and corrupt. They linked the House banking scandal, the scandal involving the powerful chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the failed health care plan by the Clinton administration to support this narrative. Similar winds appear to be blowing today.
You have the Tom Delay indictment, the Abrahamoff scandal, the scandal involving Bill Frist's profit off sales in a private hospital chain that tanked immediately after he sold his shares, the fourth appearance before a grand jury by presidential advisor Karl Rove, the disaster involving the head of disaster relief Michael Brown, and now the appointment of a woman to the Supreme Court with no experience nor a record of who she is, and worse, she was a Democrat not long ago to create another national firestorm that could possible effect the 2006 midterm elections.
All that needs to happen is a nice narrative to tie it all together.
Enter Cronyism
If you think that you have heard this term thrown around lately, it is no coincidence. Ever since Katrina, Democrats have been on a full court press trying to estalish the narrative that the Bush administration places political cronies into important positions, such as former FEMA head Mike Brown. And to help the cause, the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has had a number of prominent conservatives claiming cronyism.
In the last week alone, the charge of Republican cronyism has shown up 81 times on television. There was Robert Reich on "This Week" railing on the appointment of Tim Flanigan as deputy Attorney General:
Flanigan getting through as deputy at the Attorney General. I mean, there is so much cronyism, so much incompetence that the Democrats don't have to advertise it on a billboard. The public sees it.
Jan Greenburg on "Face the Nation:"
...the Supreme Court is head of the judiciary. It should be above politics. And so now when you see the longtime personal legal adviser, the cronyism charges, you know, those resonate with people who may not want to really think about the rule of law or, you know, the legal philosophy, but those cronyism charges, which you certainly didn't have with John Roberts--the president didn't know John Roberts--that resonates with people.
And Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) on the "Weekly Hispanic Democratic Radio Address:"
Democrats have always stood up for the interests of Latino families and all hard working Americans. Our vision of equality and opportunity contrasts with the culture of corruption and cronyism that Republicans have brought to Congress, the federal government, and now, the Supreme Court.
If there was any doubt about the strategy, then newsprint should squash it. Over the last week, cronyism appeared 179 times in newspapers near and far. From the October 9 issue of the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution:"
Bush can't mollify the critics. They look at Miers and charge cronyism. They look at her Southern Methodist University law degree and argue arrogantly and hypocritically that the president has looked past the best and the brightest to pick one of his buddies. Best and brightest? Judge Robert Bork, the brilliant jurist whose besmirchment gave name to the process of confirmation smear, was amply qualified, but of course the measure of suitability for the high court is situational.
Maureen Dowd in the October 8 issue of the "New York Times:"
But there is some sign, at least, that there are limits to cronyism, even for the Bush administration. The president had nominated Timothy Flanigan to be deputy attorney general, a job where he would oversee all U.S. attorneys, the criminal division of Justice and the F.B.I. His qualification for this was a stint as Alberto Gonzales's deputy White House counsel, where he helped write the torture memos. In Congressional testimony at one point, he said that waterboarding was a good thing, because it doesn't leave visible or permanent marks. After his White House stint, Mr. Flanigan was a senior executive at Tyco International, where his main contribution was hiring Jack Abramoff, the Republican influence peddler, to protect Tyco's offshore tax shelters. Yesterday, Mr. Flanigan withdrew amid growing questions.
You get the point. The key is that the term is beginning to take hold. And once the narrative is set, there will be little the Republicans can do to counter it. Just ask Frank Luntz. He will tell you.
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You have the Tom Delay indictment, the Abrahamoff scandal, the scandal involving Bill Frist's profit off sales in a private hospital chain that tanked immediately after he sold his shares, the fourth appearance before a grand jury by presidential advisor Karl Rove, the disaster involving the head of disaster relief Michael Brown, and now the appointment of a woman to the Supreme Court with no experience nor a record of who she is, and worse, she was a Democrat not long ago to create another national firestorm that could possible effect the 2006 midterm elections.
All that needs to happen is a nice narrative to tie it all together.
Enter Cronyism
If you think that you have heard this term thrown around lately, it is no coincidence. Ever since Katrina, Democrats have been on a full court press trying to estalish the narrative that the Bush administration places political cronies into important positions, such as former FEMA head Mike Brown. And to help the cause, the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has had a number of prominent conservatives claiming cronyism.
In the last week alone, the charge of Republican cronyism has shown up 81 times on television. There was Robert Reich on "This Week" railing on the appointment of Tim Flanigan as deputy Attorney General:
Flanigan getting through as deputy at the Attorney General. I mean, there is so much cronyism, so much incompetence that the Democrats don't have to advertise it on a billboard. The public sees it.
Jan Greenburg on "Face the Nation:"
...the Supreme Court is head of the judiciary. It should be above politics. And so now when you see the longtime personal legal adviser, the cronyism charges, you know, those resonate with people who may not want to really think about the rule of law or, you know, the legal philosophy, but those cronyism charges, which you certainly didn't have with John Roberts--the president didn't know John Roberts--that resonates with people.
And Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) on the "Weekly Hispanic Democratic Radio Address:"
Democrats have always stood up for the interests of Latino families and all hard working Americans. Our vision of equality and opportunity contrasts with the culture of corruption and cronyism that Republicans have brought to Congress, the federal government, and now, the Supreme Court.
If there was any doubt about the strategy, then newsprint should squash it. Over the last week, cronyism appeared 179 times in newspapers near and far. From the October 9 issue of the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution:"
Bush can't mollify the critics. They look at Miers and charge cronyism. They look at her Southern Methodist University law degree and argue arrogantly and hypocritically that the president has looked past the best and the brightest to pick one of his buddies. Best and brightest? Judge Robert Bork, the brilliant jurist whose besmirchment gave name to the process of confirmation smear, was amply qualified, but of course the measure of suitability for the high court is situational.
Maureen Dowd in the October 8 issue of the "New York Times:"
But there is some sign, at least, that there are limits to cronyism, even for the Bush administration. The president had nominated Timothy Flanigan to be deputy attorney general, a job where he would oversee all U.S. attorneys, the criminal division of Justice and the F.B.I. His qualification for this was a stint as Alberto Gonzales's deputy White House counsel, where he helped write the torture memos. In Congressional testimony at one point, he said that waterboarding was a good thing, because it doesn't leave visible or permanent marks. After his White House stint, Mr. Flanigan was a senior executive at Tyco International, where his main contribution was hiring Jack Abramoff, the Republican influence peddler, to protect Tyco's offshore tax shelters. Yesterday, Mr. Flanigan withdrew amid growing questions.
You get the point. The key is that the term is beginning to take hold. And once the narrative is set, there will be little the Republicans can do to counter it. Just ask Frank Luntz. He will tell you.
