Yesterday, the Democrats made a big deal about a "closed session." Apparently, the public was led out of the room, so the Senators could discuss Iraq war intelligence. Our Democrat representatives seem to think that they somehow struck Bush in his weak spot....people's growing discontent with the Iraq war. However, I disagree.
First of all, I would venture to guess that only 10% of America heard about this. And I imagine that these 10% already have strong views on politics and won't be swayed by this move. Since almost 1 in 5 people have never heard of Tom Delay or Valerie Plame, there's little chance that this closed session made big news.
Second, I am going to predict that very little will come of this session. The dramatic way in which it occurred indicates that it was purely for show. And what was the outcome? The Senate Intelligence Committee is going to continue "investigating prewar intelligence." Does anyone know what that means? I am guessing things are going to progress as they were...
I am all for Democrats being more vocal about the failures of the current administration. But I wish they'd be smart about how they handle it. They need to appeal to the average person, which can be done by boldly pointing out how life is so much less comfortable than it was before Bush. When Bush was running for president (1st term), Republicans bluntly stated that they wanted to "give us America back." Back then, an unfaithful husband as the president was a huge problem. Well, now Democrats need to say the same thing! We really do want America back!!!
And going back to the issue, I have one more pointt. Why is a closed session such big news? Why doesn't it happen more often (the last one was in 1999 about Clinton's impeachment)? Don't our Senators ever work, without the disturbance of the public weighing them down? Or is EVERYTHING for show?