Wampum

Despicable Tactic

One of the more despicable tactics of the right is to accuse liberals of wanting bad things to happen to the country so as to reap political gain. I have often heard conservatives claim that liberals are hoping that the economy will tank so that Bush can be defeated. I have rarely heard Republicans criticized for making such claims.

One example will suffice. In 2002 when the Enron, WorldCom and other corporate scandals were in the news, then House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt reportedly commented that:

The party could pick up as many as 40 House seats if the continuously unfolding corporate scandals can be kept on the political radar screen until November.

SpinSanity described the comment as “basic political strategizing.” Nonetheless, the Republicans were quick to allege that Gephardt wanted to harm the American people. Spinsanity quotes Rush Limbaugh as saying:

They're talking down the economy, which is up, and they're making a big deal out of these corporate scandals, and they're gonna keep doing it until November. They want you to get hurt, folks, so that you'll vote for them to fix it ... These guys are praying for mass economic failure.

It was not just radio blowhards making that argument. Tom Delay, appearing on CNN said:

The Democrats are working to extend America's misery for their own political gain, and we just think that's just outrageous.

What makes the GOP’s tactic so despicable is that it presumes that Democrats do not simply have policy disputes with Republicans but rather that Democrats are evil. It is part and parcel of the GOP charge that Democrats lack patriotism.
Where was the firestorm of criticism of Republicans for making those outrageous charges?

One rarely hears the flip side of the argument. For instance, Ron Brownstein in the Los Angles Times notes that:

The president's strongest asset in the 2004 campaign has been the unwavering sense among most Americans that he is providing resolute leadership against terrorism.

Dick Morris argues that anything that increases the saliency of the terrorism issue helps Bush. Morris then goes on to say:

The Madrid bombing, by indicating that al Qaeda is alive and well and still capable of striking, would seem to help Kerry. But it actually benefits Bush because it demonstrates the importance of terrorism as an issue.

Can you imagine the firestorm that would be created if Democrats charged that Bush wanted additional terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda so as to improve his reelection prospects? When Republicans argue that Democrats want us to fail in Iraq or want the economy to tank so as to increase the chances of defeating President Bush in November, no firestorm of criticism erupts.

Why is that?

Posted by Dwight Meredith at March 26, 2004 11:14 AM | TrackBack