Politicians are back at their old tricks again -- advocating failure, fear mongering, and using scare tactics to raise money.
The most recent example of politicians selling fear and playing on what they assume to be is an uninformed American public comes to us from Jane Norton, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Colorado. She hurls her version of the standard "liberals can't do security" argument in a new video:
After watching the video, I can't help but think that Norton's national security policy boils down to a simple mantra: Give Failure Another Chance. It seems that not only does she not understand what the war on terror is but that she also wants to take us back to the foreign policy of George W. Bush's administration, the same policies that got us in the mess we're in today. Among his administration's more notorious failures:
- He took his eye off the ball in Afghanistan, which allowed al Qaeda and the Taliban to regroup and start planning attacks against America.
- While George W. Bush was president, North Korea obtained nuclear weapons, and Iran got stronger and made enormous progress on acquiring its own nuclear weapons.
- Terrorists attacks around the world skyrocketed during his administration, from 423 in 2000 to 11,770 international terrorist attacks in 2008.
Contrast this with the Obama administration's handling of national security, which has scored critical successes in less than two years:
- President Obama has gone on the offensive, hitting terrorists where they're hiding, in Pakistan; capturing or killing nearly triple what the Bush administration accomplished in their entire second term.
- He's persuaded allies to take action, getting NATO to step up the fight in Afghanistan, and convinced France, Germany, and Russia to get serious on sanctioning Iran.
- Lastly, the Obama administration and a Democratic Congress has gone to bat for the military, increasing troop pay, giving them better weapons, and providing better education and health benefits.
That's how you keep America safe and strong.
Furthermore, Jane Norton's misuse of images showing soldiers in combat violates DOD regulations and inappropriately implies that she has the support of veterans around the world. As a vet, I can tell you she does not have my support. Even more concerning is the video on Norton's website with the sounds of planes in the background. Is she literally trying to 'scare up votes'? It's similar to the strategy that Congressman Pete Hoekstra's (R-MI) tried when his first response to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt was to send out a fundraising letter.
We're going to hear a lot of rhetoric in the coming months, making the same tired claims. As consumers of the political rhetoric and voters it's imperative that we're able to identify these standard political tactics and get to the heart of the matter, does the candidate understand the issue. In the case of Jane Norton, I don't believe she does.