Carlson says GOP will do fine in '08
Conservative host says Bush legacy depends on Iraq
Friday, December 02, 2005
Political commentator Tucker Carlson said Thursday that despite dips in President Bush's approval rating, he expects Republicans to do well in the 2008 general election.
That's because there are a couple of things that the Democrats just don't get, he said.
First of all, when times are uncertain, people want strong leadership.
The Republican Party is the "Sit up and eat your peas or we're gonna spank you party," he said. "The Democrats are softer, more compassionate, like Mommy ... the kind of guy who cries at Meg Ryan movies."
Carlson, a conservative commentator and host of MSNBC's "The Situation with Tucker Carlson" and former co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," was the guest speaker at the Business Council of Alabama's annual meeting at the Huntsville Marriott. The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama helped host the event.
Another reason Democrats won't take the White House in 2008, Carlson said, is they've yet to learn what Republicans learned while Bill Clinton was president. After independent council Kenneth Starr's report on Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was made public, the president's approval rating went up.
"How do you explain that? It's just perverse," he said. "It's a reflection of the discomfort with those who are attacking."
Carlson said he generally supports Bush, despite the president's image of being less than articulate.
"The president is not entirely comfortable with language," Carlson said. "There is a world of difference between the small-group Bush and the public Bush."
He said one Bush supporter described watching the president give a speech as "like watching a drunken man try to cross an icy street."
But you want him to make it across, Carlson said, "After Clinton's command of the language, although what he said didn't mean anything."
He also said he has been disappointed with the way Bush pleaded his case to invade Iraq.
"Two and a half years later, we're still debating why we went to war," he said. "That's tragic. That is Bush's fault. When there is a debate about 'why' it hurts morale."
However, he said he was impressed with Bush's speech Wednesday outlining his war strategy.
"He explained himself and gave a rationale for his program," Carlson said. "You can disagree, but the explanation was a happy departure."
During a meeting with reporters before the luncheon, Carlson said Bush's legacy will be determined by how the war in Iraq turns out. If five years from now Iraq is a pro-American democracy, that could sway other nations in the Middle East to move toward freer societies, he said.
But if Iraq dissolves into civil war, he said, Bush's presidency "will be seen as a disaster."
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