The Blog @ Spolitics

What the Dems Almost Said About Zarqawi’s Death

While the official party line (with a few exceptions) was to commend the eradication of Zarqawi, it almost didn’t work out that way. Spolitics.com has learned of a secret meeting where the top brass of the Democratic party held a brainstorming session to decide the party’s talking points on Zarqawi’s death. It was a hastily-scheduled meeting that only lasted about 45 minutes. Here are a couple of the early ideas for official statements that were dismissed:

“That $25 million would have been better spent on inspecting cargo containers in our ports.” (Dismissed because they feared it would send the message that $25 million would be enough to pay for more inspections.)

“I’m sure the Iraqi people would have much rather seen him tried in a court of law.” (Dismissed because they didn’t want to lend the war a sense of legality.)

Eventually, the group settled on the line, “Zarqawi wasn’t really a threat. Didn’t you see that video? He couldn’t even handle a gun.”

The Dems were reportedly very pleased with this line and they spent over thirty minutes of the meeting working on the exact wording. One senator was so excited by the quip that he reached over the table, high-fived the congresswoman who came up with it and shouted, “That’s it, baby!” But, despite the fact they all agreed it was an effective way to undermine President Bush, they eventually scuttled the line out of fear that it might offend Muslims.

In the end the Dems decided to play it safe. “This is a good day for the Iraqi people, the U.S. military and our intelligence community and, unfortunately, bin Laden who didn’t seem to be happy with Zarqawi anyway” became the agreed upon official line. However, the Dems decided to drop the caveat at the last minute, hoping that bin Laden would issue that statement himself.