Frank Rich, in the New York Times, actually, citing collective amnesia as the reason Democrats’ new strategy of blaming Bush won’t work.
But previous presidents have used the strategy to good effect; Reagan spent the first six years of his presidency blaming Carter. Of course, Rich was writing almost exclusively about the New York arts scene at the time and might have missed it. He’s a very good theater critic, I guess, because he certainly knows Kabuki when he sees it:
The Democrats have already retreated from immigration and energy reform. If they can’t make the case to Americans like Alexandra Jarrin that they offer more hope for a job than a radical conservative movement poised to tear down what remains of the safety net, they deserve to lose.
I give Rich the benefit of my doubt: perhaps he’s calling out notes to Democrats here in the manner of a theatrical director? Maybe he’s a latter-day Thespis?
Make the case to Americans like Alexandra Jarrin that they offer more hope for a job than a radical conservative movement poised to tear down what remains of the safety net.
Democrats, this is what actors call a “cue.” Before November: jobs, jobs, jobs. Your opponents all want to go backwards. Got it?
