BAD NEWS OR BUST

DOWNER DEMS IGNORE GOOD NEWS (DEBORAH ORIN, July 24, 2003, NY Post)

THE elimination of Saddam Hussein's evil sons Uday and Qusay was the biggest success in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad, but the Democratic 2004 presidential wannabes just didn't want to talk about the good news.

They're all quick to fire off a statement to every reporter on the Internet at the drop of a hat, but for some reason only Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) thought this was worth a statement. And his was grudging, with a focus on the "unfinished" work in Iraq.

Oh yes, other Dem wannabes did comment when asked, but it wasn't an issue they sought to raise on their own. That's particularly odd, considering that four of the five would-be presidents now in Congress actually voted for the Iraq war. You'd think they'd be happy.

The danger for Democrats now is that their strategies all seem to count on bad news from Iraq.

In fact, the buzz in Dem circles was how unlucky it was for Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.) that he gave his big Iraq-gone-wrong speech on Tuesday, choosing the day that Saddam's sons were killed to claim President Bush has made America "less safe."

At this rate, on the day the Dow tops 10,000 again, the Democratic cloakrooms on the Hill are going to look like the compound at Jonestown.

MORE "BAD" NEWS:
'THE NOOSE IS TIGHTENING' (SkyNews July 26, 2003)

American forces in Iraq are insisting that the noose is tightening around Saddam Hussein following the deaths of his two sons.

The number of raids carried out by troops hunting the deposed dictator has increased dramatically across the country.

The US says more people are coming forward with information now that Uday and Qusay are dead, tempted by the huge rewards on offer.

It has been confirmed that the informant - believed to be Saddam's cousin - who led forces to the house in Mosul where they made their last stand will get the full 20m reward.

The increasing number of "walk-ins"--Iraqis who feel safe enough to come forward on their own and volunteer information without being propmted--is an especially good sign.

MORE:
Latest Carville Memo Blasts Bush on Foreign Policy, Economy (Bobby Eberle, July 25, 2003, Talon News)

Democrat strategist James Carville released a memo through his organization, Democracy Corps, which claims that President Bush has suffered "major political
damage" on "multiple fronts." According to the memo, "dramatic changes" are now taking place in the "electoral landscape."

The Democracy Corps memo from Carville, along with Stan Greenberg and Bob Shrum, says that President Bush is "taking so much water" because he is "losing ground" on three fronts: the economy, the war and foreign policy, and on trust." The memo goes on to state that the scope of the losses "should produce a Democratic Party much more confident of its ability to challenge and win on its ideas." [...]

The memo does note that, according to their poll, 64 percent of the respondents still want to continue the "Bush direction" when it comes to the war on terror. "Similarly, on homeland security, by two-to-one, voters think the Bush administration is providing the resources necessary for homeland defense," the memo states.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 26, 2003 10:40 AM