WP, Milbank: Dems meander in a New Direction as GOP says Vote Dem and Die

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats Meander in a New New Direction
By Dana Milbank
Friday, September 15, 2006; Page A02

....Democrats have had more "New Directions" recently than MapQuest....For those keeping score at home, Democrats arrived at "New Direction" yesterday by downgrading one of the "Six for '06" issues (health care) and upgrading three others (honesty, civility and fiscal discipline), for a total of eight items on the contents page.

By contrast, Republicans have settled on a single, unofficial slogan, which essentially says: Vote Democrat and Die. And in politics, scary and scurrilous usually trumps elaborate and earnest -- something (House Minority Leader Nancy) Pelosi has experienced firsthand in recent days....

***

The California Democrat has been the focus of the GOP attack since her remark last week that capturing Osama bin Laden wouldn't make us safer. It was similar to sentiments uttered previously by President Bush ("He's not the issue") and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ("If he were gone tomorrow, the same problem would exist"). But it set off a flurry of Benedict Arnold charges from Republicans directed at Pelosi and her colleagues....

***

Pelosi, sitting on the sofa in her Capitol office yesterday, took the treason talk in stride. "I've been a traitor for five years," she quipped, pointing out that Republicans said much the same thing when she proposed a 9/11 commission. By now, she added, Democrats have neutralized the issue.

That's mostly true. Polls show a shrunken GOP advantage on terrorism. But the Republican attacks have shifted the debate to the one issue that benefits them....At about the time Pelosi was unveiling the "New Direction" brochures, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) was out on the Senate floor, accusing Democrats of aiding the terrorists....The charge enraged Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La)...."America is not tired of fighting terrorism," she retorted. "America is tired of the wrongheaded and boneheaded leadership of the Republican Party that has sent $6.5 billion a month to Iraq when the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia..."....It was angry and raw. But it was a new direction.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401575.html?sub=AR

[paulk]

1. Milbank can usually be counted on to push the RNC beltway spin

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=dana+milbank

[grasswire]

2. go to hell, Milbank

Skull and Bones member -- it's showing again.

Screw all this talk about Democratic confusion and lack of message.

I'd like to put a pie in Milbank's face today. Smarmy Yalie.