Remember the silly color-coded warning system for terror alerts? Funny how it disappeared after November 2004. And who can forget the Bush catch-phrase of 2000, "compassionate conservative"? They used again in 2002... but now, even conservatives don't buy that cynical baloney.
Here are 5 top signs that the Bush-Rove campaign team, hoping to preserve one last Republican Congress for Mr. Bush's reign, have entered the 2006 campaign season:
1. Playing the Terror Card
Terror terror terror. It's all terror, all the time, since the end of a lazily quiet 2006 presidential summer in Crawford, Texas and Kennebunkport, Maine.
The terror card has worked quite effectively in past elections for Mr. Rove, and shows no signs of abating as an effective election tactic to intimidate Americans into voting for the most menacing bully on their ballots.
One progressive blogger at OpEdNews.com writes, "Bush and Company have mandated that we sacrifice – our civil liberties, our peace of mind, and our Constitution – while they wage an illegal and immoral war against 6-million Muslims... Bush and Company... expend their best coercion to keep us in a constant state of fear and confusion. All the while they assume the role of the beneficent protector."
Invoking the worst terrorists in modern Western history, George Bush sneered on September 5, 2006, "Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them. The question is 'Will we listen? Will we pay attention to what these evil men say?’ "
TRANSLATION: Either you're with me, or you're with Hitler and Lenin clones, who intend to murder us. In fact, in a recent interview, Bush told NBC's Matt Lauer that terrorists want to "kill" Lauer's family.
2. Character Assassination of Opponents
"The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads," reported the Washington Post on September 10, 2006.
From the 2004 Rove-approved Swift Boaters smear of John Kerry to Bush/Rove 2000 whisper campaign that John McCain fathered a black baby, false and wholly misleading character assassination is a power tactic used consistently and fondly by the Bush Administration to derail political opponents.
And it's a sure and reliable sign that George Bush has entered another election season.
TRANSLATION: If we keep our opponents fearfully on the defensive and the media yakking about ratings-rich gossip and personal dirt, no one will talk about Iraq... or Social Security privitization, immigration reform, education, health care, Medicare, port security, tax breaks for the super-rich and so on.
3. The Reemergence of Laura Bush
Like the clockwork every 2 years, the political ghost of Laura Bush is again resurrected for innumerable interviews and campaign appearances, and she appears with her husband to give a joint interview on CNN's Larry King program.
Dressing smartly and smiling demurely, Mrs. Bush is dispatched to "traditional values" states while logging as many frequent-flier miles as her husband.
Although an intelligent woman, she says little of substance on the issues on these campaign stops, but the tacit, silent approval of Mrs. Bush is pure Republican gold. Laura is the anti-Hillary with a soothing presence, a warm smile and no messy career ambitions to overshadow her husband.
That's because, even when the President's approval ratings plunge to record-setting lows below 40%, public approval of the First Lady has remained above 70%, which is unusually high.
"A January 20-22 poll by CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup, reveals Laura Bush’s 82 percent approval rating is among the most positive ratings ever recorded for a first lady," crowed conservative news service Newsmax in February 2006.
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