Alphonse D'Amato: GOP in Trouble If Iraq Fails
Reported by Marie Therese - December 23, 2004
Former New York Senator Alphonse D'Amato discussed the Bush transition team and the war in Iraq with Big Story host, John Gibson, and Democratic strategist, Michael Feldman on 12/21/04. D'Amato had this to say about the Bush team: They are "a cadre of loyalty that has stayed with him from his early days in Texas ... that builds this family kind of thing. They're all together. They don't go out. They don't disparage each other." Feldman noted that President Bush is "a man for his entire career who has benefitted from low expectatons." However, it was D'Amato's comments about the 2006 elections that I found intriguing.
D'AMATO: "He goes down as a great President if, within the next 18 months, he's able to calm that tragic situation in the war in Iraq down and get our boys to begin - de-escalate that situation and get 'em home. If he doesn't do that within 18 months - and I think there are methodologies by which to do that - why, then it will be a disaster. The Republicans will take a beating in the next elections, second to none. They will lose the House. His advisors had better begin to look at this, because that's number one, two and three. Not Social Security. Not all these other issues."
