To: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Rahm Emanuel

From: Grassroots Dems

Re: Who’s An Extremist? (Hint: It’s Not Us)

Date: August 10, 2006

Please see this polling data. Statistically, IndyGOP Joe and his Rovian friends are the unpopular extremists. The get-out-of-the-Iraq-quagmire position is popular. Please amplify this message. The majority of the electorate will be with you, if you let people know you are with them. The national security issue boogeyman is dead, dead, dead.

Please inform Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar. If you can’t stay on message and give vocal support to actual Democrats, then by all means, STFU.

Just to give you a summary, the GOP loses on the answers to the following questions, summing across multiple polls:

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?"

"Which political party — the Democrats or the Republicans — do you trust to do a better job handling the situation in Iraq?"

"If a candidate for Congress supports the Bush Administration’s policies in Iraq, would that make you more likely to support that candidate for Congress, more likely to oppose that candidate, or wouldn’t it make much difference in your vote?"

"All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with Iraq was worth fighting, or not?"

"Do you think the number of U.S. military forces in Iraq should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same?"

"Would you describe Iraq as currently in a civil war, not in a civil war but close to one, or is the situation less severe than that?"


"Do you think the Bush Administration does or does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?" "Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?"

"Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war with Iraq?"

"Do you think the U.S. should withdraw SOME troops from Iraq by the end of the year, or do you think the U.S. should keep the SAME NUMBER of troops in Iraq through the end of the year?" If "Withdraw": "Do you think the U.S. should withdraw ALL troops from Iraq by the end of the year, or do you think the U.S. should keep SOME troops in Iraq through the end of the year?"

"Which comes closer to your view about U.S. troops in Iraq? The U.S. should set a timetable for withdrawal by announcing that it will remove all of its troops from Iraq by a certain date. The U.S. should keep troops in Iraq as long as necessary without setting any timetable for withdrawal."

"Which comes closer to your view about the war in Iraq? You think the U.S. will DEFINITELY win the war in Iraq. You think the U.S. will PROBABLY win the war in Iraq. You think the U.S. CAN win the war in Iraq, but you don’t think it WILL win. OR, You do not think the U.S. CAN win the war in Iraq."

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq?"

"Regardless of how you usually vote, do you think the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is more likely to make the right decisions about the war in Iraq?"

"Do you think the result of the war with Iraq was worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq, or not?"

"Looking back, do you think the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, or should the U.S. have stayed out?"

"How would you say things are going for the U.S. in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq? Would you say things are going very well, somewhat well, somewhat badly, or very badly?"

"Which of these do you think is most likely? (1) Iraq will become a stable democracy in the next year or two. (2) Iraq will become a stable democracy, but it will take longer than a year or two. OR, (3) Iraq will probably never become a stable democracy."

"Who do you think is currently winning the war in Iraq: the United States, or the Iraqi resistance and insurgents, or neither side?"

"Do you think the United States should or should not set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq?"

"How do you think the war with Iraq is affecting the United States’ image in the world? Is the war making the U.S. image in the world better, making it worse, or is the war having no effect on the U.S. image in the world?"

"Do you think the war with Iraq has made U.S. diplomatic efforts in the rest of the Middle East easier, harder, or has it had no effect?"

"Do you think the U.S. presence in Iraq is leading to greater stability in the Middle East, less stability, or doesn’t it have any effect on the stability of the Middle East?"

"If the U.S. stays in Iraq for several more years, do you think that will eventually make the United States more safe from terrorism, less safe, or won’t it make any difference?"

There’s more data on the page I linked, but you get the idea. Please circulate this memo. These data are why Ned Lamont is popular, and these are not just Connecticut polls. Run a popular national message nationally and you will win big. Rove and his flying monkeys are bluffing you.

Hope that helps!

UPDATE: Since IndyGOP Joe is running his mouth like a race-baiting, Dem-slandering Republican, I think it’s safe to say he’s become a Bush Republican officially, whether he runs openly as such or not. "If it walks like a duck. . .," etc. He’s not Bush’s favorite Democrat: he’s Bush and Rove’s Bastard Republican Lovechild (thanks for that word, Rahm!).