Adapting to Cut and Run

Posted by Freddie on August 26, 2006 under Uncategorized |

Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) is one of many Republicans who, in fighting to retain their tenuous hold on incumbency, have adapted to win precisely by cutting and running, completely abandoning strong advocacy for the war in Iraq. Interesting that Shays is employing this strategy in the very state where Ned Lamont recently bested Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary. Perhaps he’s nervous about the lack of Joementum achieved with Lieberman’s stay the course strategy. Actually, maybe Lieberman’s nervous about it, too, what with his subsequent call for Rumsfeld to resign.

What if all Americans, like William Arkin, demanded more accountability from the war in Iraq before calling for more trooops or not calling for fewer? Might we then wind up with a stronger foreign policy, better homeland security, more rapid rebuilding of critical infrastructure after emergencies like Katrina, and a diminishing deficit? It’s a hypothetical, but my hypothesis is “yes”.

An afterthought: I wonder if any element of Ken Mehlman’s sound bite strategy in developing “adapt to win” as a Republican catchphrase (while sweeping “stay the course” under the carpet) was actually drawn from the House of Labor’s Change to Win coalition, a labor movement spearheaded by SEIU’s Andy Stern after last year’s momentous decision to split from the troubled AFL-CIO? If the GOP strategist-in-chief is drawing inspiration from the Democrat-heavy labor movement for creative thinking about how to frame Iraq, maybe it’s a sign that Rove’s magic touch has completely worn off.