December 13, 2002
More on Why Karl Rove is Conducting a Behind-the-Scenes Campaign To Get Trent Lott to Step Down as Majority Leader
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
Don't say that BuzzFlash isn't prescient. As we claimed in our editorial posted the morning of December 12th (before Bush discovered, a week after the fact, that he was offended by Trent Lott's racist remarks), the White House is conducting a behind-the-scenes media campaign to put the heat on Lott to not become majority leader in January. (See http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/12/12_Lott.html).
Now even William Kristol of the neo-conservative National Standard has weighed in against Lott -- as has the mad woman of the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan. Even Drudge is dropping in negative articles about Lott.
One of the ironies is that we read two wire service stories attributing the pressure on Lott to not reassume the position of Senate majority leader being described as coming from the Democrats! If only it were so! Except for Al Gore, the Congressional Black Caucus and some belated comments from John Kerry, the Democrats are pretty much missing in action in vigorously condemning Lott.
We listed a number of reasons in our editorial yesterday as to why Karl Rove has his lapdog pundits calling for Lott's scalp, but we overlooked one.
Although the Democrats, led by the stumbling bumpkins at the DLC, keep thinking that they have to win over the gun-owning white male who wants to return America to the '50s, when the white male was king, the Bush Cartel knows that the key to any presidential election is the suburban female GOP vote -- as well as independent males and females. A good Democratic presidential candidate has a virtual lock on enough electoral votes to win the presidency. All they need is three electoral votes from any of the red states that Bush took in 2000. It is hard to believe, but the Democrats come into a presidential race from a position of strength, not weakness.
As a result, Karl Rove knows that the battle for election 2004 will be fought among GOP moderates, women and independents, because the Bush campaign can't afford to lose even one red state.
How does this lead to the politically calculated, week-late Bush apology?
Quite simply, the Bush right wing political pundits that Karl Rove has on his leash are suddenly glorifying America's great tradition of civil rights and telling Trent Lott to walk the plank. You would expect these hack journalists to be choking on their words, since they have regularly spewed venom on civil rights, prominent black elected officials -- and unrelentingly advocated for the racially code worded issue of "states rights." But Rove is worried silly that if Bush is revealed for leading the anti-minority, anti-civil rights jihad that he is really undertaking, the suburban women and independents will jump to the Democratic candidate in 2004, giving the Democrats a shot at picking up one of the smaller marginal red states and winning the presidential election.
That's why we are now seeing so much right wing red ink about the "horrible misdeeds" of Trent Lott. That is why the story is staying alive as a mainstream media issue. That is why the White House journalistic "amen choir" is all over Trent Lott like a wet blanket.
That is also why Bush participates in so many photo opportunities with young black school children. It is not to win over black votes; it is to convey the image of a man who cares about minorities to women, suburban males and independents.
Meanwhile, the Democrats don't understand any of this -- so Bush will get the credit for condemning Trent Lott, because none of the Congressional leadership attacked him as vigorously.
The Democrats have the Bush Cartel and Grand Hypocrisy Party (GHP) sins handed to them on a hot plate -- but they're afraid of the heat and drop the platter.
Meanwhile,
as the Democrats stay tongue tied out of fear of angering the mythical
"Bubba" white male vote, Karl Rove understands exactly where
the battle for 2004 will be fought -- and he's winning already.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
