Have You Tried Staying the Course?

Via Stephen Spruiell at the NRO Media Blog: Republicans fear they're losing the PR war over the Iraq debate. Mitch McConnell has been maneuvering to try and get Senator "Surge" McCain's rival resolution to the floor - as well as Judd Gregg's White-House-backed attempt to get Senators to promise not to cut off funding for the war.

But Mitch is getting bogged down on the public relations front:

The day after Senate Republicans effectively blocked debate on an anti-"surge" resolution, some in the caucus are growing increasingly alarmed over indications that they are losing the public relations battle to the Democrats. The Los Angeles Times says that although Republicans continue "to insist...that they simply want a fair debate," by yesterday some Republicans were concerned "the public would misunderstand their stance." The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call describes a concerned Senate Republican leadership yesterday struggling "to shift their focus away from complaints about parliamentary procedure and onto which party is best supporting the troops." Republicans, adds Roll Call, "found themselves on the losing end of the public relations fight as they woke up to headlines across the country pinning the blame squarely on them. 'It doesn't matter what's going on the floor. It's all about media,' one senior GOP aide said Tuesday."

Hm... take that last sentence, substitute "in the war" for "on the floor," and you've suddenly arrived at the Michelle Malkin Theory of Iraq. Coincidence?

Labels: Iraq, Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 10:45 AM 0 comments

  Senator McConnell, Reality Would Like to Have a Word With You

Senate Minority Leader says:

A word of warning as we move ahead: Democrats in Congress have inherited a strong economy. Over the last four years, we’ve seen the greatest housing boom since World War II, helped create more than 7 million new jobs, and seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach its highest point ever. These achievements are the result of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief passed by a Republican Congress at the urging of President Bush.

Reality responds:

Serious economic challenges exist at the personal level for middle class Americans and at the macroeconomic level in communities across the country. Personal economic anxieties played a significant role in the last fall’s congressional elections. While many in the media or in the current administration seek to portray these feelings as mysterious or unfounded, a close look at recent economic data shows that the typical American faces real economic insecurity, shrinking job opportunities, declining upward mobility, and a growing inability to save and accumulate wealth. In addition, our nation’s large and rising foreign debt—much of which grows out of an unsustainable federal budget deficit—exacerbates these insecurities and threatens future improvements in most Americans’ standard of living.

Labels: Center for American Progress, economy, Mitch McConnell

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 1:06 PM 0 comments