I was giddy for an entire day. Bush did terribly, and the democrats finally gave a speech that people can actually get behind. it was totally friggen amazing. and it wasn't just me, nobody gave bush good marks, and anyone who saw the democratic response was totally amazed and inspired. (Text of response --- Video )Below is part one of two, it talks about how bad bush's speech was. part two will cover the democratic response. Part one below is like a normal article, part two will be in the form of a letter to my public officials urging them to adopt the themes of Tim Kane's democratic response as their official 2006 platform.
here's part one:
[size=l]State of the Union: Bush gives his worst[/size]
Bush gave the same speech he always does, using powerful terms but not really saying much of anything. The difference was that this time, nobody believed him. Bush ignored the fact that Americans are not happy with the direction of our country. We want a leader who produces results, if the current plan isn't working we need to change it. But Bush offered no changes, he only sought to justify the current plan with flowery language.
If Bush's goal was to convince the American people to have confidence in his party and their ability to lead our nation, he failed miserably. If the State of the Union is any indication of how the 2006 midterm elections are going to go, the Republicans are in deep trouble.
Bush offered very little with regard to real plans and proposals, instead he relied on rhetoric and repetition to paint a happy face on this past year. Americans are getting restless with republican leadership, and we don't fall for the usual spin about freedom and democracy anymore. America is in trouble, and the terrorists are not the ones creating the problems this time.
We want a president admits and accepts our problems, then comes up with innovative solutions for them. Last night, the president did not meet those expectations. Nobody was fooled by Bush's usual dog and pony show. After the speech the TV news coverage did not bode well for Bush.
The dominant themes from the TV reporters after the speech were, that this speech will not help boost Bush's poll numbers, and that Bush was not at the top of his political game. They also said that Bush offered few changes or new ideas, one reporter noted that it was as if he had cut and pasted lines from his recent speeches into this one, no surprises. They weren't giving Bush any leeway or benefit of the doubt as they usually do.
The next morning I caught a little bit of radio news coverage of the speech. Our republican morning show host Tom Bauerlie was not ashamed to admit that Bush's speech was pretty terrible. Bush preformed badly, conservatives found little inspiration for their cause or their party within Bush's speech. Bush could have done much better, this was not a president in his prime.
Rush Limbaugh on the other hand followed his usual routine and simply lied, repeatedly, insisting that this was a great speech and he can't understand the criticisms of it. Limbaugh spent most of his show citing "evidence" that Bush's speech was great, and that it was making liberals scared. I had the opportunity to hear Rush read about nine paragraphs of a MoveOn.org e-mail word for word.
It really made my day to hear Rush announce the start of MoveOn's new funding drive to raise $250,000 in one day for the 2006 elections (which they have now tripled to $750,000 after getting flooded with donations, thanks for the free advertising Rush). He read the e-mail as "evidence" of liberal fear, because the beginning of the e-mail told recipients "not to be discouraged" by Bush's State of the Union Speech. Grasping wildly to keep his audience safe in their own willful ignorance Rush Limbaugh ended up advertising MoveOn.org.
I've been asking everyone if they listened to the speech, and before offering my opinion I listen to theirs. Nobody thinks that Bush did well, largely because they witness all of the problems in our world, and need a leader with a plan for change. To most, Bush sounded like a bad Charlie Brown teacher, rambling on and on without ever actually saying anything or giving a damn. People fell asleep and lost track of Bush's words because he spoke without any inspiration or emotion.
More Bad News for Bush
State of the Union: Zzzzzz
Another Bush Deficit: Ideas
Buff News
I saw both the speech and the Democrat response. To be honest I was completely underwhelmed by both. Bush looked like a stubborn child who isn't getting everything he wants RIGHT NOW. He also tried to channel Reagan, and NOBODY, least of all the real Conservatives, believes he is anything like Reagan. It was, without a doubt, the worst speech I've heard from President Bush. He wasn't going to convince anyone other than his own cheerleaders.
It is absolutely astonishing to me that anyone could be "inspired" by the Democrat response, unless they were already cheerleading liberals. There was nothing new, and in fact the guy should have footnoted John Edwards for using the same basic themes and rhetoric as Edwards during the 04 Presidential race.
This is what liberals need to understand if they are going to take back the government - "Bush Bad, Us Good" is proven to be a losing strategy. It is NOT a platform. Spinning every little thing, and treating the American public like idiots will never work either, because the new media will never let them get away with it. You do not need to be insulting assholes and call half of America uneducated, brainwashed, redneck Bushbots - do you want to win or do you not want to win? You NEED those people more than you know. Also the horrible, shameful treatment of Bush's judicial nominees does not inspire people to go along with what you say.
Democrats need a REAL platform, and they need REAL inspiration. They need to actually do some work and come up with strategies to convince Americans trusting them is the best way to go. They need to stop looking at polls and start being who they are. They need to be more honest than the Republicans, and at this point they are not. "Bush Bad, Us Good" will only result in more of the same - tremendous losses for Democrats. You need to convince America that national security is something that you actually take seriously. There are so many ways you can blast Bush's policies and Democrats squander it and fuck it up every single time. Come up with REAL plans, not vaporware, and articulate it in a way that resonates with the American public. That's how you win.
This wasn't the worst... the worst was the televised message to the Iraq Survey Group. I'll see if I can find it online. It was hilarious.