Ok, it wasn't a letter, it was an email. And somehow I doubt that George Bush wrote it because the letter lacked both spelling and grammar errors. Nevertheless, under the subject "The Differences are Clear" Bush sent out the Republican 2006 message.
Even though Republicans are a sorry lot when it comes to governing, they are amazingly disciplined campaigners. Each cycle Republicans run on one or two simple messages that can be easily understood while Democrats are busy trying to say everything to everyone. (With the notable exception of 1992 when "It's the economy stupid" and "Time for change or more of the same" catapulted a little known governor from Arkansas to the White House.
In 2000, in the midst of a budget surplus and an economic boom, Governor Bush took down Vice President Al Gore with "compassionate conservatism" and "change the tone in Washington". In 2002, Republicans swept the nation, took control or the Senate and picked up seats in the House with "the Department of Homeland Security" and "terrorism." While John Kerry was campaigning on flu vaccines, Bush Co defined Kerry as being an out of touch flip-flopping blue blood who would open us up to terrorist attacks.
And now in 2006, Republicans are returning to one of their favorite messages: Democrats will raise your taxes.
Here is the email:
Dear Daniel,
Republicans understand that by cutting taxes people will have more of their own money to save, spend and invest as they see fit, not as the government wants. So our Party and GOP members of the U.S. Congress stood squarely for tax relief for everybody who pays taxes.
We have a lot of work to do to make sure America remains a prosperous country, so that every single citizen can realize the great promise of America.
That is why your support as a Sustaining Member of the Republican National Committee is vital to our Party's success in the 2006 mid-term elections.
Daniel, nothing threatens our hard-won reforms and economic prosperity more than a Democrat victory this November.
Today, many Democrats want the tax relief we passed to expire in a few years. Some even want to repeal it now.
The Democrat Party has a clear record when it comes to taxes.
In 2001, more than 71% of the congressional Democrats voted against cutting income tax rates. More than 90% of the Congressional Democrats voted against a bill that provided tax relief for married couples.
More than 71% of Democrats voted against a bill that would have put the death tax on the road to extinction. More than 71% of Democrats voted against a bill that doubled the child credit. In 2003, more than 96% of the Congressional Democrats voted against cutting taxes on dividends and capital gains.
And recently, during the budget debate, Democrats used the occasion to call for $173 billion in tax hikes and fee increases.
The difference is clear: if you want the government in your pocket, vote Democrat. If you want to keep more of your hard-earned money, vote Republican.
Republicans have the right ideas to keep our economy growing strong. The first thing is to make the tax cuts permanent.
Republicans are also working to cut the deficit. The best way to reduce the deficit is to keep pro-growth economic policies in place, and be wise about how we spend your money -- which is exactly what Republicans are doing in Washington. We are on our way to cut the deficit in half by 2009.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
Arnold Schwarzenegger is making the same claim as he tries to climb himself out of his disastorous special election claiming that Phil Angelides. Take this from today's Sacramento Bee:
Schwarzenegger campaign spokeswoman Katie Levinson responded in a statement, "Phil Angelides is a leader all right -- he's leading the charge for $10 billion in new taxes."
Nevermind that in California it takes a 2/3 vote of the legislature to raise taxes, so it would require votes from both Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats are in the best position since 1994 to take back one or both houses of Congress, but we will need to be disciplined and message well. We will need to put the Republican leadership on the defensive. We will need to talk about issues that Americans care about, and remind Americans of the Republican hypocrisy. And we cannot simply give catch phrases that impact single issue voters, hoping that there are enough environmentalists, gays, pro-choice women, etc. to add up to %50.1 in crucial districts.
The Republican machine has shown their hand, we need to make sure we don't make the same mistakes that we have in the past.