In response to GOP attack ads over his censure proposal, Russ says:
“I welcome their attempt to make a campaign issue of the question of whether there will be accountability for the president’s breaking the law,” he said. “They will remind people every minute that the president thumbed his nose at the law.”
That pretty much squares with what I was thinking. If Republicans want to have a discussion about whether a President who admits breaking the law should be censured … let’s have that discussion. A lot. And go figure, 60% of Democrats support censuring the President. (That’s because it’s the right thing to do.)
And Rush Limbaugh calling this “a gift”? Ha. Do we really buy that? Can we admit the possibility that Mr. Limbaugh — who knows something about denial — is “whistling in the dark”? I mean, that’s basically the administration’s Iraq policy, after all…
Some Dems are still oh-so-muddled:
Many also see his effort as a distraction at a time when the administration was on the ropes over Iraq and a since-scuttled port deal.
“It just takes us off discussions we ought to be having in this country on issues that really matter in people’s lives,” said Rep. Sherrod Brown, a liberal Democrat from Ohio who is running for Senate.
An accountable President who tells the truth and follows the law matters to everyone, Sherrod. Wake up.
First, Sherrod Brown’s comment kills me. I defended him against the Hackett worshippers in part because I thought he was the type of candidate to stand up and demand accountability from this President. Don’t make me eat my words, Sherrod.
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At any rate, I agree that Feingold certainly knows what he’s doing politically. He’s defined the terms of the debate and the Repugs are taking the bait. But why in the world would the RNC run these attack ads?. They’re being run in Milwaukee and Madison, two of the bluest areas in the entire country, and Feingold’s not up for re-election until 2010. I took a stab at answering that on MassForFeingold.com, but I still doubt my conclusion.
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Anyone else have thoughts as to what the RNC is thinking with these ads?
Why would they run those ads unless they were afraid of something? If this is such a “gift”, why are they fighting it so hard?
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In any event, they picked a fight with the wrong guy. If they were smart, they would have tried to laugh it away. But even they know how high the stakes are. The GOP is used to bullying people, but don’t expect Feingold to back down on this one.