WASHINGTON, 2 August 2003 — During the 2000 White House race, Republican George W. Bush repeatedly charged Democrat Al Gore would “say anything to get elected president.” Democrats are now using variations on that theme against President Bush.
Emboldened by a flare-up over Bush’s use of disputed intelligence on Iraq, his slipping poll numbers and a mounting federal deficit, Democrats charge Bush seems willing to say or do anything to get what he wants — such as the war to unseat Saddam Hussein and tax cuts for the rich.
One top Democrat, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, a 2004 White House contender, has even suggested that if Bush deliberately hyped the facts in the case for war he should be impeached.
While other Democrats have been unwilling to second such a call, they have come together in recent weeks to increase the heat on the still popular, yet under fire, president on this and other fronts.
“Clearly it is time for the president to step forward and tell the truth,” Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, another presidential contender, recently declared in what has nearly become a party refrain.
Democrats point largely to “the 16 words” in Bush’s State of the Union address in January as they charge he may have manipulated intelligence to drum up support for war. In the speech, Bush used a now-discredited claim that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa for a nuclear weapons program as evidence that Iraq represented a threat to the United States. In a news conference, Bush, who for weeks blamed others, on Wednesday said he took “personal responsibility” for making the charge.
Democrats have also ratcheted up their contention that Bush has implemented a misguided tax-cutting policy that has increased the deficit and slowed an economic recovery.
In addition, Democrats complain Bush has failed to come up with promised funding for education reform, has inadequately financed homeland security and has done a poor job of stabilizing a post-Saddam Iraq.
A Democratic strategist said, “The attacks Bush leveled against Gore for being willing to ‘say anything to get elected’ will be turned against Bush in this election. Count on it.”
Republicans have retorted that Democrats are barking up the wrong tree. “They’ve spewed more rhetoric at President Bush than they ever did at Saddam Hussein,” House Republican Leader Tom DeLay of Texas told reporters.
“They think if they get just a little bit angrier, and a little bit meaner, and a little bit louder, the American people will start hating the president as much as they do,” DeLay said. “If that’s their strategy, then in the words of President Bush, ‘Bring ‘em on.’”
“If the truth hurts, so be it,” said Rep. James Moran, a Virginia Democrat. “Democrats had seemed to be a little intimidated by Bush and reluctant to challenge him on national security. But no more.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, spoke softly as he sought to put the matter in perspective. “Any out of power party looks for opening,” Graham said. “They think the 16 words is an opening. They think the economy is an opening.”
“I don’t think it will materialize. But if a year from now, we are still losing one or two soldiers a day and unemployment is still at 5.5 or 6 percent, it could hurt the president,” Graham said.
“Right now, it is just politics,” Graham said. “Democrats are in tough spot. You have a popular president. They only way to get any traction is to try to knock him down.”
Graham recalled 1998 when Republicans increased their attacks on Democratic President Bill Clinton leading up to his impeachment on charges stemming from his affair with a White House intern, only to see him maintain high approval ratings and his party pick up congressional seats.
“My advice to our good Democratic friends is to learn from our mistakes,” Graham said. “The key is not to overplay your hand, and I think the Democrats are overplaying their hand.”
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who was Gore’s vice presidential running mate in 2000, is now one of nine Democrats seeking to be their party’s 2004 presidential nomination.
“After two and one-half years I think it is appropriate to hold the president accountable for some of the promises he made during the 2000 campaign,” Lieberman said. “He promised to usher in ‘a new era of responsibility,’ but refuses to accept responsibility” for such matters as the ailing economy.
Jennifer Duffy of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Democrats have tried and failed to take on the popular wartime president on a host of issues.
“Many Democrats now think they have an issue that might work for them — Bush’s credibility,” Duffy said. “It’s going to take time to see how it plays out.”
