Nancy Pelosi gives a heads up: Dems are in attack mode next week

DENVER -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, moonlighting as co-chair of the Democratic National Convention, dropped a big hint this afternoon that once speakers take the stage when the gathering formally opens Monday, an arsenal of slings and arrows will be directed at Republicans -- unlike four years ago.

At the conclave in Boston that John Kerry and his aides orchestrated, word went out that orators were to low-key potshots at President Bush and the GOP. The plan was to accentuate the positive about Kerry -- especially his military service in Vietnam.

Much to Kerry's surprise, of course, the Swift Boat ad campaign turned that particular into a negative for him. And in general, many Democrats now see the tone adopted for the 2004 convention as flawed.

With that in mind, Pelosi was asked during a luncheon with reporters whether this year's gathering of the Democratic tribe was going to have a harder-edge

Pelosi, without directly trashing the Kerry convention planners, left no doubt she agreed with the criticism of them. If she had had her druthers, she said, the confab would have been "about the Iraq war, not the Vietnam war."

She then offered the type of scathing assessment of Bush's tenure in the White House likely to be echoed again and again in the days ahead: "There isn't an area of public policy that this administration hasn't failed in."

So there.

On another convention-related note, Pelosi held out the possibility that Sen. Ted Kennedy -- suffering from brain cancer and the subject of a Monday night tribute -- might appear in person.

She said she had talked with him recently and that "he sounded great. ... He sounded like a person who was going to be at this convention."

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Associated Press

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Comments

[Mitchell in NY]

Yes, slings and arrows, and let's have some fun while they are at it in Denver. ( I mean for those of us who are not in Denver.)

A bumper sticker contest was suggested on TPL. My suggestion, combine McCain's pro-gun sympathies with his love of real estate: House Hunters for McCain

And then there is another game:

"Who Does McCain Remind you of? A New Game for Hard Times"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[VJ Machiavelli]

I juest can't wait for Nancy Pelosi and her band of "APPEASERS" start trashing McCain and the GOP. I guess they have flown in all the Democ"rats" that are fit to speak.

They are going to go down in flames, NO BOUNCE, and maybe a loss in the polls.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com

[Marc Hussein Hamlin]

Attack!! This is one of the reasons Obama chose Biden. Joe Biden isn't afraid to get a little blood on his knuckles!

Obama/Biden '08/'12

[acarponzo]

A telling poll after yesterdays announcement. The real-time poll at http://www.bop-o-rama.com saw a spike Obama's number. He broke 600,000. It seems his supporters are having trouble getting on McCain. McCain's number, 313,543. Where is all the support in cyberspace for Obama? I do like the humor of the bumper sticker contest. Humor and politics, you've got to have it. How is Nancy Pelosi's book doing? Last I heard it had only sold 2,500 copies. It is good that she and her husband already ahve money to invest with T. Bone Pickens.

[freeinquirer]

It is so unnerving to see how unethical and unprincipled plus, of course, bankrupt of ideas those Republican pudits are. I am just wondering why isn't anybody talking about the the theif McCain steeling the story about the cross- sandal-marking in the ground by his guard from Solzhenitsyn memoirs? Why is the Press isso generally giving that moron a break? He makes at least one gaff a day and nobody is even pointing it out.