“We don’t call them ‘enemies.’ We call them ‘patriots.’” UPDATED

Scroll down for an update.

John Boehner is going after Obama in a closing argument aimed at making sure this election is a nationalized referendum on the President’s politics.  At a rally tonight in Cincinnati, Ohio the man who will replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House will remind the nation that this election is about complete repudiation of Obama’s divisive, arrogant and hyperpartisan rhetoric.  As reported on America’s Newsroom on Fox News and in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal, Boehner released an advance copy of the remarks he’ll give tonight.

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“We have a president in the White House who referred to Americans who disagree with him as ‘our enemies.’  Think about that. He actually used that word. When Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush used the word ‘enemy,’ they reserved it for global terrorists and foreign dictators – enemies of the United States.”

“Sadly, we have [a] president who used the word ‘enemy’ for fellow Americans…fellow citizens. He uses it for people who disagree with his agenda for bigger government…people speaking out for a smaller, more accountable government.”

“Mr. President, there’s a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don’t call them ‘enemies.’ We call them ‘patriots.’”

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Preach it!

Fired up rhetoric like this doesn’t make much of an impact this late in the game. But it does fire up the base, demoralize the opposition base and perhaps push a few of the dunderheads who haven’t yet made up their minds.

But it also shows that the GOP leadership is listening to its base.  The “enemies” comments got little criticism in the mainstream, legacy media.  Most of the scorn and outrage came from blogs, talk radio and social media.  The GOP has long been derided for not having its finger on our pulse.  Indeed, that’s one of the reasons they lost their way after the 2004 election and got “fired” in 2006 and 2008.  If they really are listening then it’s a wonderful thing.

We have a lot to say, Mr. Speaker.  And yes, we are Patriots.

UPDATE: Via Politico, Obama is now trying to un-ring the bell.

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In Monday’s radio interview with Michael Baisden, Obama said: “I had a conversation with a Hispanic radio outlet, Univision, and during the course of that conversation, one of the things that I had to say to the Latino community, which is frustrated that we haven't seen progress on immigration reform, was that they can't sit out of this election. There were arguments being made that because Democrats hadn’t gotten this done, that Latinos should vote against Democrats or just sit out the election.

“And I said, well, you can't punish your friends when — the folks who’ve been supporting it. Now, I did also say if you're going to punish somebody, punish your enemies, and I probably should have used the word ‘opponents’ instead of ‘enemies.’ Now the Republicans are saying that I'm calling them enemies. What I'm saying is you’re an opponent of this particular provision, comprehensive immigration reform, which is something very different.”

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Umm, no.  Sorry.  No do overs.  He let the truth of his attitude show in the first interview with Univision. Conservatives, in his sick little mind, are his enemies and they must be punished. Now that the mask has slipped and he learns that the soon-to-be Speaker of the House is going to hoist him with his own petard, he’s out there with another media outlet trying to walk it back.

This is the same thing as a racist saying he really didn’t mean to use the “N” word.  Or, the same as Jesse Jackson saying he really didn’t mean to refer to New York as “Hymie Town.” You don’t get to un-ring the bell.

Poll: 50% of Americans don’t know who John Boehner is

The headline on this WSJ/NBC News Poll story is that Bill Clinton enjoys the highest rating for political figures. But the most interesting result is that half of Americans don’t know House Minority Leader John Boehner.

While at the same time, current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi garners a 50% negative rating (14% somewhat negative, 36% very negative).

This poll comes after weeks of near continuous attacks on Boehner by the White House, Democrat Party and its public relations department. Despite all of the coordinated efforts—which have stooped so low as to suggest marital infidelity—Boehner remains nearly unscathed.  If anything, the relentless assault has improved Boehner’s reach.  Absolutely no one knew who he was this  time last year.  Now, about half the people do know who he is and despite the White House assault, neither his positives nor his negatives have barely budged.  This shows that the public is not interested in the White House’s attempts to get the spotlight off its dismal record.  By trying to cast a presumptive speaker Boehner as the same old, same old Republican, they’ve attempted to make Americans forget that the last two years even happened.  It hasn’t worked.

Indeed, it has probably backfired, and badly so.  The last thing in the world the Democrats would want to do is to nationalize this election.  But by going after Boehner so loudly and so publicly, that’s just what they’ve done.  It’s reminded Americans that the Democrats have been in power since 2006 and that Boehner has had little to do with the mess the country is in.

Polls like this should make Republicans even more confident going into the November elections. 

Liberal media planning bombshell; alleging John Boehner affair

When you are losing the debate on the facts, change tactics and start attacking personalities.  It’s a tried and true strategy of the left, and who really expected it wouldn’t be tried again in 2010?  Via the NY Post:

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Liberal media outlets are trying to smear the highest-ranking Republican in the House just weeks before the midterm elections with a deal-breaking scandal before he has a chance to take the speaker's chair from Nancy Pelosi.

A blogger from liberal Web site The Daily Kos pierced through Boehner's security detail at yesterday's unveiling of his leadership policy "Pledge to America" to ask if he was sleeping with a lobbyist from the Printing Industries of America.

The congressman ignored the pesky blogger with a flip camera and kept moving to his fleet of black Suburbans.

The lobbyist who was named in the confrontation and then was contacted by he Daily Kos blogger Lisbeth Lyons denied the accusations. "As you can imagine, I was stunned by such a question," Lyons said. "I found it to be highly insulting, particularly as a female political professional, as well as unfounded. Beyond that, I have no further comment on the matter."

Insiders on Capitol Hill are buzzing about an upcoming New York Times exposé that will detail an alleged Boehner affair. Sources say the Times is looking for the right time to drop the story in October to sway the election, similar to how the Times reported during the 2008 presidential campaign on an alleged John McCain affair that supposedly had taken place many years before and that was flatly denied by the woman in question.

"Catching Boehner with a mistress is the only way to destroy him politically before the election," a source said.

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This election is not about John Boehner, so even if there is a smidge of truth to the allegations, it’s a futile and desperate attempt to knock the debate off of the issues.  A lot of people heading to the polls on November 2 probably don’t even know who John Boehner is, despite the recent Democrat leadership’s attempt to make him the hot target.

TARP, Porkulus, Obamacare, Financial Regulation Reform, Cap and Trade, Amnesty, the drilling moratorium, Arizona immigration enforcement law.  The Democrats are on the wrong side of all eight issues. This election is all about issues, and when Democrats are on the wrong side of the electorate, out come the long knives.  People are motivated to vote in this mid-term because they’re sick and tired of junk like this.