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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Strong criticisms no doubt, but they can't be distilled to soundbites, so they are relevant only to those who watch the campaign closely and parse the factual details. The average voter (a) does not read VF and (b) hasn't the tolerance for deatil or attention span to connect the dots to develop a picture of Rudy as more opportunist than hero. And to the layman voter, the more ink it takes to prove Rudy's not a hero, the less credible the criticism.

And Hillary will never attack his hero credentials because it leaves her open to attack from the people who blame her husband for not killing bin Laden in Afghanistan when he had the chance.

Rudy's also got the hero pedestal whether he deserves it or not because it is already part of the general historical consensus.

And digging into 9/11 is the last thing the Dems want to do. They can't win a debate on the security issue because, facts be damned, they are perceived to be the weaker party in that arena. Their best course is to avoid it and battle Rudy on the economy.

If this election turns on security and foreign policy, the Dems will lose. They have a great hand in the economic malaise and populist call for wealth redistribution. That is where they should aim their money and efforts.

On the VF article, since I don't read VF myself I'm not going to suggest that a lot of other people. OTOH, one wonders whether the conventional wisdom about Rudy will change if the reporters covering the race internalize that piece.

On the next election -- and this may come as some shock to you -- we are fighting a war in Iraq, and it is going poorly. As a direct result, Republicans lost the House and Senate in the last election and President Bush's approval ratings are in the crapper.

Carry on.