Despite Petraeus Theater, Democrats "Get" Foreign Policy

Democrats,

The Republicans may have won the Battle of Petraeus, but they are losing in the war of ideas and brand equity.

Americans don't like losing wars, but they've certainly lost faith in the Republicans' ability to conduct American foreign policy. While it is true that the Republicans still present themselves as being the party that knows how to be tough, brawn without brains is no longer acceptable to the majority of Americans. Petraeus might be trusted as a General, but he's not trusted as a Republican.

Don't get sucked into the Petraeus theater. The need to hide behind a General shows just how weak Republicans actually are. In response to this weakness, the Republicans pulled a reverse punch on the MoveOn.org ad. Democrats, sadly, fell for it. Apparently, it's still open-mic night every night in Democratic party strategy meetings.

Yet these are all details. The real challenge ahead is changing the narrative. But how can we create a positive narrative when Democrats seem confused and weak on Iraq? Let's start with this truism: While Democrats might not know exactly what to do, Republicans certainly don't know what they're doing.

Of course that doesn't speak well for Democrats, but politics is about comparisons, not absolutes. Don't get hung up on your problems -- focus on the bigger, broader, more troubling problems in the opposition party. While focusing on how much worse Republicans are isn't going to solve any real problems within the Democratic party, it's just good enough when there are only two political parties.

Democrats -- if you boil this down, this means you are now the party that "gets" foreign policy.

Decide, as a party, that Democrats are now the "best and the brightest" in foreign policy, and that no other party has the chops to get us out of the mess that we're in. Focus on this because, frankly, America needs someone who sounds like they're smart at foreign policy.

A rising tide lifts all ships, so the Democratic party needs to begin to rally around the belief that Democrats are the 21st century's answer to knowing how to navigate the seven seas and seven continents, and Democrats can steer America out of the stormy waters created by Republicans.

Some additional talking points:

• Republicans know how to get into wars, but Democrats know how to win them.
• Democrats want to grab success out of the jaws of defeat.
• Our overcommitment to Iraq has created a violent welfare state.
  
• Republicans vote for Iraqi welfare, yet vote against American welfare. Makes you think.
• Republicans created our foreign policy problems, and now it's time once again for Democrats to clean up the mess.
  

This approach to creating a new narrative is truly Rovian. We all know that Democrats as a party don't really "get it" yet, however, Rovian strategies are optimistic by definition: Repeat an idea enough times, get enough people to believe it, and it might just come true.

It's trickle-down reality. Better to trickle down reality onto Republicans than to have Republicans trickle down reality onto you.

Republicans Certainly Can Talk, But Do They Walk?

Democrats,

As Senator Larry Craigslist of problems continues to grow, you can and should use this story as the catalyst to kick off a campaign to support the Republican's determination to flush their own party's brand down the toilet.

For those who think politics should be about taking the high ground, it's not evil or wrong to point out things about your competition to sway hearts and minds. In fact, I assert that it's your primary job to explain to voters the differences between Democrats and Republicans: In this case, Democrats represent the brand that is tolerant and honest about sexual orientation, whereas Republicans are proving to be the opposite of who they say they are, and stand for things that they don't believe in.

Which brings to mind the word hypocrisy. The trouble is, we throw around the word hypocrisy a lot in our culture, so simply deploying this term won't raise any eyebrows by itself. Instead, we need to use hypocrisy as the means to a messaging ends.

But before we get to the talking points, let's do some up-front work to establish a pattern of Republican-style hypocrisy:

Many Republicans who claim to be...

• "Pro-heterosexual" are starting to be exposed as sexually deviant
• "Pro-military" have never served themselves, nor encourage their children to serve
• "Pro-family" values have had multiple divorces
• "G*d-fearing" exert behaviors that go directly against the teachings in the Bible
• "Pro-life" are also "pro-death penalty."
• "Anti-immigration" are also pro-business - the same businesses that profit from employing illegal immigrants
• "Anti-tax" still support expensive government programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security
• "Pro-America" yet think the Government wiretapping everyone without a warrant is still "America."

So, what do we learn from this? We learn that (most)...

• Republicans Prefer Hypocrisy to Democracy
• Republicans Talk the Talk, but Don't Walk the Walk
• Republicans Talk a Good Game, but Place the Wrong Bets
  
• Republicans Think They Represent Conservatives, but Actually Represent Extremists and Deviants
  
• Republicans Seem to Need to Hide from the Truth in the Land of Liberty

and, the grand finale... Many Republicans Just Aren't Who They Say They Are

This applies as much to Toilet-Patrol Larry as it does to Mit "I'm pro and/or/maybe against abortion, gay marriage, and everything else" Romney. It runs the gamut, which is why it's fair to generalize and make this a sticking point for the voters.

OK, one more: You Just Don't Get What you Pay for When you Vote Republican.

Pick and choose your favorite lines and start utilizing them when you're on talk shows or writing op-eds. Take these points to the market and re-brand the Republicans before they re-brand you.

Press Release: Karl Rove Resigns; Our Karl Rove Reigns

Everyone,

While removing an "s" does transform "resigns" into "reigns", there's much more than a single letter that separates Karl Rove from Our Karl Rove's respective futures.

Our Karl Rove was actually never intended to be a doppelgänger of Karl Rove specifically. The idea was to take a firebrand figure that represented Republican political success (i.e., Karl Rove) and utilize that energy to improve the fortunes of the Democrats. In fact, Our Karl Rove actually provides services and insights closer to Frank Luntz (in conjunction with the likes of Andrew Card and Karen Hughes) than Karl Rove.

No matter -- the Our Karl Rove brand has provided the author of this blog with the right audience to enunciate strategic framing, messaging, and communications recommendations for the Democrats. Leveraging Karl Rove's identity piqued interest enough to get people's attention in a veritable sea of progressive and liberal blogs. And I expect it will continue to do so in the future. From this perspective, Our Karl Rove has thus far been a success -- which is more than Karl Rove can claim for his supposed permanent Republican majority project.

In fact, while Karl Rove clearly has had more impact to date (much to our country's -- and the world's -- collective chagrin), Our Karl Rove has been more successful in its mission to date.

In response to the inevitable question, "Will there be a name change for Our Karl Rove based on Karl Rove's departure?"...you'll have to stop by regularly to find out. I will say this: One of the many things that both Our Karl Rove and Karl Rove agree on is that "from a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August." In the meantime, I suggest subscribing to the mailing list to ensure that you continue to gain political messaging and insights that you can find nowhere else, and be a part of the blog and its evolution.

Sing it with me: Now that Karl Rove has left the scene, only Our Karl Rove reigns supreme.

Operation Iraqi Framework

Democrats,

We're already starting to hear tidbits of the impending Republican September Strategy -- showing statistical improvements in Iraq to put a halt on public pressure to get out. These 'improvements' include talking points around the decline in American deaths thanks to the surge, and the increase in peaceful areas in Baghdad.

You cannot allow this administration and Republicans to take back the framing of this war.

Democrats need to create an entire framework around the Iraq Debacle that is simple, honest, and impenetrable:

The Democratic Iraq War Framework

• Re-brand the War in Iraq as the "Iraq Debacle." Looking at the situation on the ground, it does not resemble a situation that most Americans would classify a war -- therefore, it isn't. There aren't two sides, there isn't a clear sense of how one side can win, and it's not clear to anyone what we're fighting for. So, nix the term 'war' from your rhetoric so we all can get out of the Bush/Republican framework of 'war' -- a framework that gives them more implicit power.
  
• America wins by avoiding debacles. One of the 'gotchas' that the Republicans have is that Dems look like "defeatists" when they say we've lost the war and it's time to bring the troops home. That's just playing into the Republican framework. Shift it so that Democrats are for successfully guiding America out of Bush's Iraq Debacle. You want to be on the side of winning, no matter what. In order to always win, you need to re-frame the debate so that you're on the winning side. Take a look at how Republicans politic -- they are naturals at this trick.
  
• There are better ways to fight terrorism than keeping our soldiers in Iraq. This is a simple yet fundamentally key point that has not be effectively made by Democrats to-date. Unfortunately, the Democratic line has been "getting our troops out of harm's way" -- which acts to re-enforce the negative Democratic brand attribute of "cut and run" wusses. Getting out of Iraq (how we get out is a completely other topic) needs to be re-framed in positive, strategic, and tough terms. What are the "better ways"? This will be the subject of a future OKR post.
  
• No more excuses. This is a simple frame up that will resonate with the masses. Americans are simply exhausted and have had enough of shifting rationales, new generals, new strategies, and new excuses. This doesn't mean that we lost in Iraq; rather, it means that Republican management of wars isn't what it used to be, and until there is a new Commander-in-Chief, it'd be foolish to continue prosecuting a war under such terrible management.
  
• FearSpend vs. SmartSpend. Thus far, figures are upward of $1 trillion for the Iraq Debacle to-date. This is FearSpend. It hasn't stopped Bin Laden or Al Q'aida, and it has done nothing to reduce terror. It hasn't even stopped people from trying to attack us on our own soil. Democrats will introduce the idea of SmartSpend -- where we spend our money -- and utilize our troops -- in areas where there will be a payoff in national security.
  

These pillars of a new Democratic Framework for Iraq will help you redefine the current state, the future state, and crystallize the Democratic position on Iraq, terrorism, and convey a semblance of foreign policy leadership.

There is much more work to do. Democrats really do need a compelling foreign policy doctrine that goes head-to-head with the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war, over-there-vs.-over-here, and the belief that sovereign states are at the core of terrorist funding and ideology.

Republicans Don't Care About Americans

Democrats,

The subject of this post pretty much gets right to the point: All the evidence points to the unfortunate truth that the majority of Republicans don't much care what Americans think, because the majority of Republicans are loyal first to their party, not to the country.

This is certainly an attack position in party politics, which I know is not a normal position for you to take (in contrast, you've spent the last six years defending yourselves from Republican party attacks). But it's worth getting a spine and stepping up the rhetoric, if for no other reason than to help voters understand that when they vote Republican in this day in age, they're no longer voting for America's best interest, they're instead voting primarily for the best interests of the Republican party.

Voters need to chew on this for a while and see how it tastes as it settles in.

Like any good liberal/progressive, I understand that you'll want proof before you assert such strong positions. No problem. Read on...

The current political environment invites this conclusion. Do the math: count the heads and divide by the totals, and the results will show that the majority of Republicans in Congress (and Republican presidential candidates) stand for things that the majority of the country does not:

• The vast majority of Republicans in the congress (and presidential candidates) continue to support the President's Iraq plan. They vote to fund it, they vote to stay the course, and they vote to stop any Democratic bills that would shift course. They stuck with the President despite the fact that the war has been failing for three years, and costing American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
  
• The vast majority of today's Republican congressmen and presidential candidates are not calling for Attorney General Gonzales to resign, or for Bush to fire him.
  
• The majority of Republicans running for President support the President's decision to commute Scooter Libby's sentence.
  
• The majority of Republicans support the President's liberal use of executive privilege as a way to hide behind probable White House scandals.
  
• The majority of Republicans stand behind Bush's overall approach to his War on Terror.
  

In all of these areas, the majority of Americans disagree with the majority of Republicans (yes, several Republicans are now re-considering their loyalty after years upon years of blind loyalty to a deafening ideology, yet a vast majority in the House still support almost all of the President's policies even today).

How and why did this happen? When Republicans are elected, they look up before they look around and down. In other words, Republicans have loyalty to their leaders first, then to their colleagues, and then to their constituents. It's just how many have found the Conservative Mind to operate. This fits into why conservatives tend to have more religious fervor than liberals (and seemingly less concerned about the poor and weak) -- they look up before looking around and down.

This is not necessarily a bad thing -- I'm not judging the Conservative Mind one way or another. But that doesn't mean that you can't use this conservative orientation as a way to besmirch the Republican brand.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but this is about concept generalization - which is a key approach to making a message stick with a general audience. And as we all know all too well, Republicans liberally use liberals' high regard for debate, discussion and equality to devalue the strength and integrity of the Democratic party brand in the minds of so many Americans, so it's only fair that Democrats use Republican traits to tarnish their party brand as well.

Some talking points to help drive this message into the voters' psyche:

"Republicans are following their party leadership like lemmings off a cliff."

"Republicans are so loyal to George Bush that they have become deaf and blind to what America stands for."

"Before you vote Republican, understand that they are not representing you -- they represent their inside-the-beltway party leadership first and foremost."

"The Republican party used to stand for justice, honor, small government, and smart foreign policy. That time has passed, and now Democrats are the party that represent true American values."

"By not supporting a vote of no confidence for Attorney General Gonzales, Republicans have shown the American people that they are more loyal to their party leadership (the President) than they are to America's rule of law, order, and justice."

"The Republicans' War on Terror has turned into a Terror of a War thanks to ignoring all facts and standing along side their reckless and dangerous Commander-in-Chief."

"Republicans have, through a series of poor decisions and bad judgment, wrecked all of the things Democrats put in place in the 1990s - because the Republican party's needs were more important to them than America's needs."

"Beware: Republicans will follow their leader before they'll follow the truth."

Democrats: Now It's Your Turn to Conflate Terrorism and Iraq

Democrats,

First, let's get on the same page:

• This administration (and most Republicans -- especially those running for office) will only see the recent terror plot at JFK airport as a partisan political opportunity. Before accusing me of being cynical, remember that this administration simply believes that politics is its business. Governing is for others. If this doesn't immediately ring true, feel free to flip through any speech the Bush administration has made about Iraq, and think back about how we got into Iraq in the first place.

• Using this foiled terrorist plot as a political tool, this administration (and most Republicans) will look to take some kind of credit for intercepting the plan. "Staying tough," "Not backing down," and "Continuing to be on the offense" are the most likely memes that will be transmitted by all who support the so-called "Bush Doctrine."

This is a critical time (and a political opportunity) for Democrats to convey a clear, strong message that this event is yet another indication that the Bush Doctrine is failing.

Let's get right into the immediate if/then scenarios:

1. If this administration has the inclination and gall to somehow tie the busting up of the JFK airport plot to "staying tough" on the Iraq War, then here is a strategic response:

"Stopping terrorist plots is the most critical job for the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and local law enforcement agencies. They are all to be commended for their leadership in undermining this terrifying plot. This demonstrates how critical it is to our national security that these agencies are well-managed.

However, it is the job of our President to reduce or eliminate terrorism. This means, in its simplest terms, that we need to start playing offense, not only defense.

In the business of terrorism, defense means breaking up existing plots. Contrary to this administration's belief, "offense" does not mean taking over Iraq. No, playing offense means making sure there aren't terrorist plots in the first place. Our foreign policies need to focus on the elimination of violent hatred towards America so terrorist plots are not planned in the first place."

2. If this administration has enough self control to not conflate Iraq with this terrorist plot, then you need the discipline and thought leadership to do exactly the opposite:

"Stopping terrorist plots is the most critical job for the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and local law enforcement agencies. They are all to be commended for their leadership in undermining this terrifying plot. This demonstrates how critical it is to our national security that these agencies are well-managed.

President Bush has told us time and time again that we're fighting them "over there" so that we don't have to fight them "over here." Unfortunately, this and other terrifying terrorist plots are proof that this administration's strategy on the War on Terror has failed us. As a result of Mr. Bush's and Republican policies, we are now fighting Iraqis over there and terrorists over here.

We simply cannot afford to continue to play defense with people trying to destroy American cities and lives. We need a new foreign policy that is focused on eliminating people's violent hatred of America so that they no longer want to hatch horrible plots against us. We simply cannot expect that people from foreign lands will want what's best for America if we continue to appear violent and dangerously militant while having the most powerful armed forces in the world.

Like everyone else, I am so relieved that our federal, state, and local agencies were able to work together to stop this terrorist plot. But there will be more. Make no mistake, it is our President's responsibility to stop people from plotting against us... and not just run interceptions."

Strategic talking points conveyed in these responses include:

• Don't be a wet blanket. There was a big FBI and local law enforcement win here; make sure to give credit to the appropriate agencies and departments, not the administration. Give credit generously -- just keep a firewall between credit-deserving agencies and Republican politicians.
  
• Call this administration out on the "over there, over here" strategy -- which is one of the key rhetorical underpinnings for the War in Iraq. The JFK airport plot proves once and for all that their strategy has failed. If you can undermine this rhetoric, then the rest of the Iraq War rationales will have even less solid ground to stand on. You might win over McCain if you handle this one right.
  
• Hit this administration over the head with their own strategies. Yes, our law enforcement interception saved thousands of lives, but this administration's foreign policy strategy failed us. It's worth noting that it appears that this plot was not even hatched by Al Q'aida. This means that the threat of terrorism on American soil is spreading beyond our initial set of enemies. This is the definition of failure.
  
• Catch this administration completely off-guard by defining their terrorist strategy as defensive. This is quintessential re-framing, and it happens to be absolutely correct. It is truly a defensive posture if we're just breaking up plot after plot. It's like a missile defense system... do you really want to trust anti-missile missiles to hit every missile barreling towards us, or would you rather ensure that our enemies have good reasons not to launch missiles against us in the first place? Even Ronald Reagan would understand this.
  
• If you catch yourself sounding too complicated or wonky, use sports metaphors. Interceptions, blocks, tackles, etc. Sport is just an abstraction for war anyway, so go with terms people get.
  
• Begin weaving in replacement terms for the "War on Terror" whenever possible. The phrase is double-loaded: It gives Bush credit for deftly defining a never-ending "war," and, worse, it frames the issue in terms of war, which is too one-dimensional. Notice the introduction of the phrase the "business of terror." It's stronger than phrases like a "law enforcement challenge," yet it importantly removes the term "war" from the rhetoric.
  
• Take this opportunity to point out that Iraqis aren't terrorizing us, and they never have. It's just good for our population's well-being for this factual point to continue to seep into the American consciousness. Take on the responsibility to spread the truth about who is trying to harm Americans. Speaking the truth is a sign of moral leadership -- the type of leadership is something this country desperately needs.

Democrats: A Mess Without a Message

Democrats,

I know you know you really screwed up on the recent Iraq funding bill. And I know you think it's not entirely fair that you are being excoriated -- after all, it's only funding the war until September. By providing temporary funding, you're buying yourselves the time and political climate you think you need to line up a veto-proof majority against the Bush administration.

I get it. In fact, most of us who follow political discourse get it. But a critical aspect of your job is to ensure that all Americans get what you did, how you did it, and why you did it.

Unfortunately, you utterly failed at managing the media message (and that's putting it lightly). "Democrats backed down" is the prevailing meme. Nice job -- you just took a huge chunk out of the Democratic brand.

No matter what the legislative realities, it didn't have to be this way. It would not have taken too much time or investment to ensure that the right message was shuttled through the media meme machine -- yet this clearly did not happen.

In case it's not clear to you just yet, Americans need to believe that Democrats can stand up for America in the face of external threats. However, you just gave Americans a taste for what happens to Democrats when they are rejected twice by a powerful force -- they give in. Great message. That's really going to convince the Security Moms and NASCAR Dads that Democrats are tough enough to fight whatever foreign enemy it is that we seem to think we're fighting.

Unfortunately, it's really too late to provide any messaging advice at this point in time. But, just to make a point, here's a taste of what a good communications/messaging plan would have consisted of:

1. Seed the blogosphere with advanced notice of a planned short-term capitulation. Hone this message to explain that this is not about backing down in the face of the Bush administration -- it is buying three months' time to rally support across the nation for the ultimate veto-proof majority. Explain that, after the historic 2006 election (taking this opportunity to thank the o-so-powerful blogosphere again for their help), the Democratic party is now a big tent party that has purple, blue, and violet members that need to be satisfied. Creating this grand coalition is critical, and will be lined up in September when it's show time.
2. Seed the mainstream media with advanced leakage of planned short-term funding to ensure that the troops have enough money to fight throughout the summer. Democrats will cautiously support the Generals' requests to assess effectiveness of the so-called Surge Strategy.
3. Get a firebrand Dem (i.e., Murtha) to book himself on Meet the Press the Sunday prior to the bill passing, allowing him to get all huffy about how detached from reality the President is, and how he's essentially jeopardizing our troops' well-being by playing politics and political theater. He can end with something quote-worthy like "The President relishes his own power more than the safety of our troops, or the safety of America."
4. On Monday morning news programs, enlist a staid Democratic leader to comment on Murtha's statements, stating that he understands Murtha's frustrations, and that Murtha represents many people in the country. Yet calm heads must prevail to ensure our troops that are already deployed are as safe and equipped as possible until we're ready to move out -- which is obviously going to be sooner rather than later.
5. Upon bill passing, Democratic leaders make the point that, based on the unreasonable position of the Bush administration, people of conscience simply cannot put the troops in the middle of a political showdown like the President is trying to do. Democrats in Congress will simply not use the troops as a political tool, and will meet the President half-way by only funding the war until September. Come September, the President will have to show us either undeniably clear progress in Iraq or face the fact that he has to end his deeply flawed war in Iraq.
   

Can you see how executing on this strategy might have not only altered how the press summed up the situation, but also served to limit the revolts you're currently seeing in the liberal blogosphere? Do you see how subtly assigning (admittedly unlikely) success in Iraq to all Americans, and failure in Iraq to Bush specifically is a strategic messaging strategy?

Democrats (especially congressional Dems), if you are not going to rely on messaging strategists (like OKR, who you can contact at will) as an integral part of your political strategies, then you risk continually being defined by your adversaries, and ultimately weaken your chances of leading this country when it is gripped in fear and uncertainty.

This Just In: Purse Strings Have Strings Attached

Congressional Democrats,

A defining moment for the Democratic brand is upon you: how you handle the showdown with the President over Iraq War funding will be inevitably tied to the Democratic Party's ability to lead this country.

I can appreciate what you're doing -- fulfilling your political mission to challenge the current war policy because you were voted into the majority to do just that. While passing bills that attempt to handcuff the Commander-in-Chief in his ability to set war policy certainly smacks of chutzpah, you can do much better in positioning your actions and rationale with the American people.

The bill you recently sent to the President has timetables attached to the money he needs to continue his war policy. Yet Bush is effortlessly brushing aside your advances. It turns out, he's not interested in the dance (look, if he was interested in mingling with a spunky dance partner, do you think he would have married Laura?)

I understand that it is very hard to see the forest for the trees when you live and work in the forest. This is precisely why Our Karl Rove exists -- so take heed of Your Karl Rove's advice to make sure that what makes sense for the country also makes sense to the country.

"We're not giving you a spending bill. We're giving you an accountability bill."

"We're your CFO. And as CFO, we have not been at all pleased with how you're spending the people's tax dollars on this war. As a result, moving forward, you will only get money from us with strings attached."

"Our troops deserve our support, but your leadership does not. As a result, we will be providing funds for our troops to succeed, and providing you with deadlines because you do not seem to be able to set your own."

"Mr. President, the very fact that you require more supplemental spending four years into this war is a sign of failure, not leadership."

These talking points set the context that you are not political guns, but hired representatives trying to do your job responsibly. You were voted into the majority to keep this administration in check. These talking points help ensure that your actions are seen as constructive and positive, versus political and negative.

The President no doubt will continue attempting to portray you as hollow, shameless partisans trying to manipulate public opinion for political gain. You'll want to privately remind him to look in the mirror, while publicly remind him and the public that you're just doing your constitutional duty.

And, depending on how much chutzpah you have left after a few rounds of this verbal sparring, you might want to add that you have political capital, and that you plan on spending it to help move this country back in the right direction.

Postscript: A quick note regarding gun laws in the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre: There is no one unified belief system in this country around gun control -- opinions vary greatly from state to state. As a result, it would be the most politically advantageous for Democrats to take the position of letting each state decide what's best for its citizens, but the federal government should subsidize states that choose to adopt and enforce gun control.

Democrats: Are You Ready to Rumble?

Democrats,

The spinmeisters in this reckless administration have cooked up another brew-ha-ha. The primary ingredients in this round are 'Democratic partisanship' and 'Democrats trying to politicize government' when the nation's business needs attending to. In his latest speech, Bush warns of a "fishing expedition" and "show trials" in an effort for Democrats to score political points.

The good news is that this is pretty standard Republican rhetoric -- conservatives are generally a fearful bunch and really do feel like they're consistently under threat by some outside force. Since this is really nothing new, it will be quite easy (and, quite honestly, fun) to turn this around on them. The other bit of good news is that the President has given you a gift if you are willing to accept it (we'll talk more about this "gift" later).

The bad news is that there are a lot of politically independent people in America that are fearful of the unknown as well. According to recent Gallup polls, most Americans do not feel safe on a number of fronts. And Bush's rhetoric could have a rallying effect on those who aren't following this scandal's nuances, and might also see our injured President trying to "protect" the Oval Office from the image of savage, salivating Democrats just looking to take down their President.

This means that your responses need to be finely-tuned to ensure maximum impact and to minimize any rallying effect Bush's "fighting words" might create:

"The only thing we're fishing for is the truth."

"Astonishingly, the President is not willing to allow his aides to testify under oath. The only logical conclusion is that he must, for some reason, think they're going to lie. "

"What we see here is a deeply troubling pattern in this administration. Scooter Libby has already been found guilty by a jury of his peers for lying under oath, and now other administration aides are being instructed by the President not to swear to G-d to tell the truth. We must ask ourselves: Is there any truth left in this administration?"

"The American people need to ask themselves if they are comfortable with a President who is so afraid of the truth that he refuses to let his aides testify under oath."

"We can only assume that if Karl Rove and other presidential aides will not speak to us under oath that there is a reason for this. Why are they afraid to swear to G-d to tell the truth to the American people?"

"The President talks tough about 'show trials' and 'fishing expeditions,' yet at the end of the day, he is clearly afraid of us uncovering the dirty deeds of his administration. Why else would he stonewall an investigation?"

"This Republican administration has been behind their wall of secrecy for too long. They've let us down too many times, and now it's time to come out into the daylight and show America what they've been up to. "

"This is about the rule of law, nothing more, nothing less. This administration has declined our request for sworn testimony under G-d, so we are sadly forced to issue subpoenas to officials in our very own government in order to get the truth."

"It's honestly hard to believe how far this administration will go to avoid telling the American people the truth."

There are a couple of important concepts embedded in these talking points that are worth noting:

• None of the talking points talk specifically about the Attorney General scandal. This is intentional, because this row with the President is not about this scandal anymore -- it's about a new "war for secrecy" that has been waged by this administration.
  
• Testifying under oath is a big part of the issue here, because it signals to our famously religious America that testifying under oath is all about swearing to tell the truth under G-d, plain and simple. This is now about an administration that is trying to avoid sin. Think about this carefully, because the new religious fervor in our country makes this a finer point than merely a legal one.

These talking points set the groundwork to ensure Democrats are not seen as the salivating partisan goons that the President just depicted you as. Once that bedrock has been laid, you have the opportunity to open the 'gift' that the President gave you -- the gift of raising this debate to new heights that could very well overwhelm this entire administration. If you're willing to go there, you can do a very Rovian thing: use their own strength ("hunkerin' down fer a fight") and turn it into their weakness by attacking them on your terms:

"If we've come to the point where our very own government is afraid to swear to G-d to tell the truth, then unfortunately the time has come to consider an even larger investigation into the overall level of corruption of this administration."

Yes, these are fighting words, and yes, it's a risky proposition. But it's something to be seriously considered in your strategy meetings. When are you going to pull out the big guns and use your new majority powers to expose an administration that comparatively makes Nixon look like a six-year-old stealing candy from the local drug store?

Make no mistake -- the big fish here is not Gonzales; it is the wall of secrecy around the Executive branch which is a patent abuse of power. The President gave you a gift -- a fight for something bigger and more important that a single scandal (which we all know is merely one of many). The framers of this nation would find this wall of secrecy unacceptable, as should contemporary Americans. Sliding into a totalitarian state like Russia is the last thing the American people expect or deserve. But if you, Democrats, don't shine a bright light on it, we may continue to slide.

Democrats: Are you our Mommy or our CFO?

Democrats,

You are still missing the mark in the opposition on the War in Iraq. You appear to be trapped in the mindset that it's your job to fix Bush's mistakes, and that America is looking to you to right all of Bush's wrongs. While this is certainly understandable, it's not working.

You are trapped in this mindset because you think of yourselves the wrong way. You have to shift your focus and rethink your persona: Are you the Mommy that wields the power of the purse and cares solely about the well-being of each soldier? Or are you the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) that invests funds to support the appropriate winning strategies?

As political leaders in charge of the budget, Americans want a CFO.

As CFO, you will shift your focus from the troops, troop levels, and troop deployments to America's approach to foreign policy. And as CFO, you also need to think of your budget as the tool that advances America's strategies that you decide are worth investing in.

As you rethink your role as CFO, you will start to see that your attempt at getting directly involved in the Iraq War planning is a losing proposition. Since you're not in the direct line of military command, you simply cannot know what troop levels, caps, or deployments are needed. In business terms, you should be a strategic executive, yet you are acting like an operations analyst. That's why the term "micro-manager" keeps cropping up.

Worse, getting involved in the details entangles you in Bush's disastrous strategy: If you get your way, then anything bad that may happen moving forward can -- and will -- be blamed squarely on you and your troop management policies. If you don't get your way, then you're just an ineffective body trying -- but failing -- to micromanage the President.

Hello? Aren't any of your staffers and strategists telling you this?

Moving forward, you have to do two things: Get unraveled from the war execution details, and then re-assert your role as the Chief Financial Officer.

First, some talking tips to help re-separate Democrats from the failed Republican foreign policy strategy:

• The fate of our troops remains in the Commander-In-Chief's hands -- not Congress'.
• The President should be listening more closely to Congress, but he won't until Republican congressmen support us.
• Our troops risk their lives every day, and we want the President to think about how to best deploy our military every single day.
• Because the administration is still solely responsible for the war effort, every loss America takes is a result of a failed Republican foreign policy strategy.
• Stop talking about getting our troops "out of harm's way." Our armed forces volunteered to be trained to be in harm's way. That's their job. It's the Generals' job to ensure their troops are safe, not the Congress. You sound like the Mommy Party when the country really needs strategic leadership.

As the Mommy, you're missing the opportunity to influence America's real foreign policy challenges and hold the President and your Republican colleagues accountable for mismanaging the Iraq War and the greater War on Terror.

From the CFO persona, think through these ideas and embed them into your messaging:

• Bush's pet project in Iraq is a very dangerous experiment. The Taliban and Al Q'aida are regrouping in Afghanistan, where the President took his eye off the ball.
• This is not about Iraq and troop surges. This is about a failed Middle East engagement.
• Bush's foreign policy is not how you stop terrorism. This is how you create more terrorism aimed at America.

And if you're looking for a cute soundbite to cut through the news clutter:

"Just like Vice President Cheney, President Bush misfired and shot Iraq in the face when he should have been aiming at Afghanistan."

These are broader strokes, and exactly what the Congress should be talking about. You should be cutting Bush's foreign policy strategy off at the knees, and not at the toes.

One of the advantages of talking strategically is that you can gain broad consensual agreement when there are no details. In addition, you will reset the context of the debate from tactics to strategy, which is exactly what the budget should be tied to. Since you have the "power of the purse" (which evokes motherly images), rethink your persona and be the equivalent of a CFO -- and invest dollars against a strategic plan.

Americans will be more impressed with a CFO's investment decisions than where Mommy decided to spend the money in her purse.