Thursday, November 17, 2005

How does a politician survive a sustained attack?

This is what George W. Bush does according to Josh Marshall.
We've noted before that in scandals or political nominations the decisive issue is not the number of opponents, the intensity of their opposition or even the quality of their arguments. The decisive issue is most often whether the scandalee or the nominee has some committed base of support, even if it only amounts to a distinct minority.
Josh is discussing the current White House attack back against its critics, but I wanted to point out the technique being used.

Bush isn't talking to those of us who know he has failed as President. He is talking to his committed base and giving them something to argue back with. They may be a minority of the voters, but they can prevent him from being removed as President. They set up a roadblock against the attacks, and allow time to recover and comeback.

It is my opinion that the media does not like to do the same story over and over. If he can outlast the media, then he has a chance to survive. Let's watch to see what happens to his polls.

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