I've been watching these `conservative' talk show hosts frame everything the Democrats intend to do as conciliatory towards Bush or "Bush-hating". And stupidly, almost all of the guests on "the left" are buying into the frame. What Democratic pundits need to realize and what the American people need to realize is the frame with which every action of the Democrats needs to be contextually set is
LOVE FOR AMERICA.
When a talking head asks "are the Democrats doing this to oppose the President?" the answer is
"NO - they are doing this in support of the American people" or "because they love America."
This was not a vote against Bush, but a vote FOR America. Seems simple, but almost no progressive pundits are actually doing this.
Every action of the administration needs to be framed in this context as well. Everything the Democrats oppose needs to be argued by the television pundits as "we oppose the nomination of Bolton because it is against the interests of the American people." "We support stem-cell research because we're pro-American and we want Americans to have cures for all the diseases they suffer with." Every time a conservative TV host frames something as being against the President, the progressives MUST return "it's not against the President, it's for the American people." "It's not anti-Bush, it's pro American."
Now, here we can enter a debate of ideas rather than a playground "I know you are but what am I" exchange of who hates Bush and who supports him. America is the prize. Don't make Bush the giant here - make America the giant. We can pivot Bush off America. We can finally return to weighing the administration's policies as for or against the greater good of America rather than for or against Bush - which is what we're supposed to be doing in the first place.
I know it seems obvious to a lot of Kossaks, but it seems many of the pundits are still wrapping the whole election in the context of pro or anti-Bush. It's just not. People don't hate Bush because he's incoherent or because he doesn't read, or even because he does more photo-ops than a supermodel. People hate Bush because they believe that the things he does are bad for America, and people love America, and if someone does something bad to someone you love, you tend to not like that person. That's the truth, and that's the frame. Simply put, a lot of `Republicans' were loyal to their party until they realized their party was not being loyal to America, and so they chose loyalty to America, and we should honor them by acknowledging this.