Larry Sabato's open letter to Bush (and the Democrats blueprint for taking control in 2006)

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Entitled Bush's Long Road Back, the current edition of moderate Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball newsletter is an open letter to POTUS:

Urgent Memo to the President

Things are bad, Mr. President. Really bad. We can tell you already know that, since it is written all over your pained expression when you appear in public.

[...]

You've got 38 months still to serve as President...You don't want to endure years in the White House with an unfriendly public...[Y]ou need to surprise your critics by proving more flexible and inclusive than we've ever seen you. Are you up to the task? If you aren't, history will almost certainly judge you a failed President.

Here's the plan:

1. Accept Political Reality on Iraq.
   Whether you like it or not, you will have to withdraw a substantial portion of our troops before the midterm elections in November 2006 or risk a Democratic takeover of Congress.

2. Start Aggressive Credit-Taking for a Good Economy.
   Start a debate with your adversaries about the economy. Unlike Iraq, it's an argument you can win.

3. Retool, retool, retool.
   You need to move from policy innovation to consolidation.

4. Re-Staff, Re-Staff, Re-Staff.
   Every President--just like every Major League team owner--needs to refresh his roster from time to time with new, able people.

5. Admit One Big Error and Correct It.
   So let's choose something that even your strongest supporters in Congress deeply regret: the Medicare drug benefit....All at once, you can please your party, make better policy, and change your image by confessing a big goof. People will be amazed at your display of humility. Sometimes, the best politics is counterintuitive.

Sabato is no Republican Machiavelli, no partisan hack. I don't believe he has a partisan agenda. And/But his little checklist is a pretty good blueprint for how the Democrats can take over Congress in 2006 and how they can win back the White House in 2008.

Here's how it works: simply point out that all of these "initiatives" are pale carbon copies of what the Democrats would do if they held the majority. Except the Democrats would do them better.

I mean, think about it: if you go to a restaurant and there are two items on the menu, "A Cheeseburger" and "Another Cheeseburger," which one are you going to order? A Cheeseburger -- because it's the real thing.

If Bush thinks the solution to his problems is to become more like a Democrat, then I say beat him over the head with it:

1. Withdraw the troops? Democrat Murtha already laid it out -- Republican Bush is just playing "me too." Democrats should line up behind Murtha's plan and point out that Bush is a cynical opportunist who has no credibility on the war.

2. Good economy? Are you kidding? Health care costs -- through the roof. Higher education -- increasingly unaffordable. Energy prices -- already high and going higher -- just wait til January. The Gulf Coast -- rotting with neglect. General Motors -- going bankrupt (see the section on health care costs). Democrats have better solutions to all of these problems. And the public knows it.

3. Retool? Sure -- no more Mars missions. No more sucky Republican Social Security proposals. No more Republican tax cuts. Republican immigration reform is a joke. Once Bush is done retooling, he'll discover that the Republicans are bankrupt of "ideas." It's the Democrats who have the credibility and hold the advantage on these issues and the public knows it.

4. Re-staff? Too late -- the Republican White House (and the Republican Congress) is swamped by a tsunami of scandal and corruption. The best way to re-staff is to vote the Republican rascals out of Congress in 2006 and out of the Oval Office in 2008.

5. Admit one big error? Sure -- let's re-visit the Republican Medicare drug benefit plan. In fact, if the people will elect a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate, POTUS can admit his "one big error" by signing the Democratic plan for reforming Medicare.

Come on Democrats -- here's your blueprint. Start building that majority.