That's how the President will want the question framed. Perhaps we can explore other options.
It is an oft cited talking point of former members of the Bush administration that after 9/11, we were kept safe from terrorist attacks. I’ve agreed. While I have my criticisms of President Bush in other areas, on this I have always given him praise for what I understood to be a monumental job of constant diligence.
It was said of President Obama during his 2008 campaign that there existed a fear of his not keeping us safe, most memorably in Hillary Clinton’s “3 a.m. phone call” commercial.
Since we have not been attacked on the scale of 9/11, President Obama will in all likelihood claim our continued safety as his own job well done. What is good for Dick Cheney, he will argue, is good for Barack Obama.
At the center of his talking point on keeping us safe will be his killing of Osama bin Laden. It has already started. Today he contrasted himself and Mitt Romney, suggesting his likely opponent would not have killed bin Laden, based upon past statements.
The Romney campaign will face a challenge between now and November on how to respond to the President’s claim of success in keeping us safe.
I’m curious as to what suggestions we might have for the Romney campaign. There are a number of choices that come to mind, some already being tried by Romney. Here are a few:
- Call it shameful to use our safety as a political talking point.
- Pivot the conversation to foreign policy criticisms of the President.
- Embarrass the President with his renaming the war on terror to variations like “war on Al Qaeda, its affiliates, and adherents” or the even more clerkish sounding (if that’s even possible) “overseas contingency operations.”
I stand fearful, however, of this simple rebuttal: “The people complaining the loudest are doing so blanketed by the safety afforded them by my administration.” This will be an attempt by the President to make Mitt Romney seem ungrateful toward our military and police.
There is another option for Romney that is often used in courtrooms and I’m wondering if it is similarly used in political campaigns: Concede the issue. There are two ways of doing this.
One way I've done it is to bring up the issue that is least helpful to me before the other guy does. The goal is to show honesty by not hiding it and to have the jury (voters) hear it said in the best possible light for my client (law of primacy: studies show people tend toward believing what they hear first).
The other method is to concede by ignoring. The last thing I want to do is highlight my weakness or my adversary’s strength. If my client’s case is filled with many other issues, I’ll let one tough issue pass without comment to let it get lost or have the jury conclude that my lack of concern about it means it’s not an issue at all. I’ll admit that particular brand of subtlety is to be used with caution (but it does work).
The polar opposite of conceding the issue is to punch it out in the center of the ring, perhaps like this: When the President claims success at keeping us safe from terrorists, Mitt Romney could bring up the Ft.Hood killings as proof of the President’s failure in keeping America safe.
Will Romney open himself up to the criticism of politicizing the Ft. Hood killings or insensitivity to the victim's families? The Democrats will certainly say that, but how will the American people view it when they do? What must linger in the campaign strategist’s mind is this: Perhaps that strategy will work because it is true, and it may neutralize the claim of success of the President.
Are there any other options you can offer the Romney campaign on how to deal with this issue when the President claim's strength (as he did today)?
Which option do you think is best?
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Apr '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Romney should take a leaf from BHO's book and blame Bush for our "safety".
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Hysterical!
Nov '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
I would think that Romney would (or should) point out the fact that the Obama Administration has largely continued Bush Administration policies, policies Obama criticized when running for office. Obama did not formulate those policies. He likely, upon taking office, realized they were prudent, given what he knew as President Obama that he did not know as Candidate Obama. His constituents criticize him on this topic, but he knows he needs to be tough on Terrorism to gain the vote of the middle. So what would he do upon getting re-elected, knowing he will never be Candidate Obama again? I guess that's a little convoluted for your average 14-percenter.
Aug '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Romney should acknowledge that Obama has killed some key terrorists with the drone program (to remind his lefty base of that fact) and then pivot to how the rest of his foreign policy vis-a-vis China, Russia, Iran, etc. has made the world a much more dangerous place.
Concede the minor point while raising the major one!
Edited on May 1, 2012 at 2:16amRe: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
That's a very good point, Ken.
Cheney's view though I believe has been Obama changed the Bush policies (not that Dick speaks for Mitt ).
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Frozen Chosen: Romney should acknowledge that Obama has killed some key terrorists with the drone program (to remind his lefty base of that fact) and then pivot to how the rest of his foreign policy vis-a-vis China, Russia, Iran, etc. has made the world a much more dangerous place.
Concede the minor point while raising the major one! · 3 minutes ago
Edited 2 minutes ago
A one-two punch!
Sep '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
I don't know about the courtroom, but what if he just said, any president would have killed Bin Laden if given the opportunity. Not to deny the great interest of the president—and the vice president and the secretaries of defense and of state—in seeing the assassination carried out, but though the operation itself was extremely gutsy, the decision to authorize it was not. And then say something like, though one cannot prove a negative, the American people should have no doubt that Mitt Romney is ready to take on the full complement of duties required of a careful and competent commander in chief—whether the call comes it at 3 a.m. or 7 p.m. or midnight.
By the way, Tommy, did you see where Arianna Huffington called the ad despicable politics. LOVE it!
Mar '12
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Romney should say "I will take whatever actions are necessary to defend the American people. And you can rest assured that I will never, under any circumstances, use those actions as a bludgeon for partisan political purposes." As Ariana Huffington stated today, Obama's use of UBL's killing in a political ad is contemptible. That should be the focus of any counterpunch.
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Leslie Watkins: I don't know about the courtroom, but what if he just said,any president would have killed Bin Laden if given the opportunity. Not to deny the great interest of the president—and the vice president and the secretaries of defense and of state—in seeing the assassination carried out, but though the operation itself was extremely gutsy, the decision to authorize it was not. And then say something like, though one cannot prove a negative, the American people should have no doubt that Mitt Romney is ready to take on the full complement of duties required of a careful and competent commander in chief—whether the call comes it at 3 a.m. or 7 p.m. or midnight.
By the way, Tommy, did you see where Arianna Huffington called the ad despicable politics. LOVE it! · 14 minutes ago
Yes I saw her objection on Daily Caller a little while ago. Hope that trend continues!
Jan '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
A major terrorist attack would take a long time to plan, especially with the security apparatus that the Bush administration put into place and that the current administration continues to use, so our not having been attacked yet does not preclude something being in the works. And we shouldn't forget all of the attempted attacks over the past three years which failed only because of luck. Ann Coulter may have said it best when she described the Obama National Security Policy as "Hope their bombs don't work."
Mar '12
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
1) Romney's comment that even Carter would have ordered the hit is a good response to the Bin Laden issue by using humor.
2) Focus attention on the failure of BO's "arab spring" policies to show how having the Muslim Bros in charge in Egypt and Lybia makes us less safe.
3) Focus on the failure to stop Iran from producings nukes.
4) Remind BO how he "inherited" a safer USA from Bush.
Jan '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
I'm with Frozen on this one, concede/congratulate the President on Bin Laden then clobber him with his Administration's absurdities like: 'man caused disasters', Ft.Hood as 'work place violence', civil vs. military trials, etc.
Apr '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Tommy De Seno
Frozen Chosen: Romney should acknowledge that Obama has killed some key terrorists with the drone program (to remind his lefty base of that fact) and then pivot to how the rest of his foreign policy vis-a-vis China, Russia, Iran, etc. has made the world a much more dangerous place.
Concede the minor point while raising the major one! ·
A one-two punch! · 2 hours ago
It is a mark of just how crazy BHO's liberal thinking is that he thinks killing Taliban and al-Qaeda agents is moral but capturing and interrogating them is not. Thus we are denied the intelligence updates we need to keep ahead of Islamist plotting.
Killing Islamofascist terrorists is good, but too much of a good thing is not.
Jun '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
I agree, and although Romney will need to make his foreign policy case himself, he can enlist the aid of surrogates, most notably John Bolton. Bolton has a singular talent for stating the central issue in often convoluted foreign policy debates and then banging the Obama administration for its failures. I would find a way to feature Bolton as much as possible.
A smart guy I used to work with had a saying that I think applies: "The first duty of a leader is to properly frame the issue; the second is to develop and implement strategies and tactics that directly address the issue." In other words, Romney's campaign must be laser-like on the issues and not let Obama distract them.
Edited on May 1, 2012 at 4:35amJun '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
What has kept us safe from terrorist is their ineptitude and sheer luck. Politicians from both major religions, Democrat and Republican, have claimed to keep us safe from terrorists by burning the constitution and stripping Americans of their most basic rights.
Might as well say they've kept us safe from zombies, because, well, have you seen any zombies? Well, there you go.
Dec '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
How about telling the truth?
Romney: "The president made the right call in authorizing the Seals to do what they do so well. Was it a particularly courageous decision, or did it show some particular insight into foreign policy? Perhaps Bill Clinton, who passed on at least a couple opportunities to get bin Laden, is best qualified to comment. For myself, I'm confident if I had made the call, I wouldn't be exploiting the skill and courage of our dedicated Seals for my own political gain."
'Cause that's the bottom line of this story. The only calculation Obama made in making his decision was how the success or failure might affect his political fortunes. It wasn't about Pokystan's reaction (don't you just despise the pronunciation pretension?!), or even about how confident he was of the Seals' success. He was only worried how the Left might react to the success, or how the rest of the country might react to the unlikely failure. He calculated correctly that the Left have no principles to abandon in pursuit of their "fundamental transformation of America," and the rest of America would be ecstatic with a kill. Big whoop.
Sep '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Long-term vs. Short-term. Same strategy lefties used on respecting our values, but twisted. BO has kept us safe for now. But by conceding the Arab and Muslim worlds to extremists and abandoning the many liberals and moderates there to their fates we have made a fatal mistake. As radical governments lead to failed economies and increasing numbers of poorly educated childen, these states will breed terrorists in numbers never before seen. We have been kept safe, and we've avoided the terrible losses incurred by wars in far away places. But in so doing we've conceded the agenda to the worst of men and unless we reverse course now our path will yield many bitter fruit for decades to come.
Jul '11
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
No and No. Perhaps the actual story of how spooked and indecisive Obama was at the time might become better known as well as Clinton winning over Val Jarret as Barrack looked like a spotlighted deer.
Edited on May 1, 2012 at 6:25amOct '10
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
I think we should concede the issue--I doubt it will decide the election. John Kerry made a fool out of himself trying to attack Bush's foreign policy record in 2004. We shouldn't repeat that mistake, especially not with all the other disturbing parallels between the Romney and Kerry campaigns.
Mar '12
Re: Campaign Dilemma: Is Keeping Us Safe From Terrorists Easy, Or Did President Obama Do A Good Job?
Western Chauvinist: How about telling the truth?
The only calculation Obama made in making his decision was how the success or failure might affect his politicalfortunes. . · 1 hour ago
And you can bet if the mission had gone wrong, the Vice Admiral who actually planned and directed it would've been thrown under the bus.
Am I the only one to smell desperation in this kind of blatant politicization of the raid? This seems awful early in a campaign to be "going there" no? Makes me wonder what kind of internals Team Obama is seeing in the polls already.