Will Liz Cheney's new group hurt Obama?

Posted By Josh Rogin Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 3:29 PM Share

These days, presidential campaigns begin immediately after the previous election ends, often even before the opposition party has a candidate in mind. So it wasn't too surprising that Republicans opened up a new foreign-policy front aimed at 2012 today, bringing together former Bush administration and McCain campaign staffers to attack President Obama on a range of foreign-policy issues.

Neoconservative foreign-policy heavyweights Liz Cheney and William Kristol are at the heart of the new initiative, called the Keep America Safe campaign. Their first Web video attacks Obama's decisions on altering the plan for missile-defense sites in Eastern Europe, the Justice Department's decision to look into interrogation abuses by the CIA, and the pending decision of whether or not to escalate in Afghanistan.

Ben Smith at Politico has more details on the makeup of the new group:

The group's mechanics are largely a product of former campaign aides to Senator John McCain: Michael Goldfarb, now a Weekly Standard blogger, is an adviser to the group; its executive director is McCain war room chief Aaron Harison, and the video was produced by Justin Germany, the McCain aide who produced a campaign video titled, "The One," which mocked Obama as a messianic figure.
The Keep America Safe video - a fundraising tool that will be promoted on the Drudge Report and other conservative outlets - mocks Obama (in echoes of liberal attacks on his predecessor, George W. Bush) as a lightweight more interested in golf than in defending America.

Showing that the group is just as much about looking backwards as forward, Smith paraphrases Cheney as saying:

The Keep America Safe website, [Cheney] said, would feature memos by Bush Administration lawyers justifying waterboarding and other practices to make the case that they aren't torture.

Democratic sources told The Cable they are taking a wait-and-see approach, hoping the negative connotations some Americans still associate with the Cheney family and the Bush administration's policies will keep the group's reach limited to those already in the conservative camp.

But the effectiveness of such techniques during the latter stages of the 2008 campaign means that the new campaign cannot be ignored. Kristol and some of his allies from the McCain presidential run are already serving as foreign-policy advisors to potential 2012 candidates, including Sarah Palin.

Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

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TVLJR

4:05 PM ET

October 13, 2009

Bill Kristol - Foreign Policy Heavyweight?

I don't see from Kristol's background anything that would lead me to believe he knows anything about foreign policy. At least Cheney had some time at State, though she appears to have accomplished little.

JOHNR CMH

4:13 PM ET

October 13, 2009

video techniques?

Maybe I missed it, but what techniques are you talking about when you refer to "the effectiveness of such techniques during the latter stages of the 2008 campaign"? are you referring to past ads like the Swift Boat ads from '04?

ROCKCREEK

4:47 PM ET

October 13, 2009

Effective?

This neo-conservative site will not have an effect on the administration. It will used to raise money and provide a defense for the Bush-Cheney regime. It will further diminish the Republican party. If Cheney really wants to protect America, perhaps she should enlist.

GRANT

5:21 PM ET

October 13, 2009

I realize that liberals

I realize that liberals criticized Bush the lesser as often as they could, but you would think that Republicans would consider other tactics by now. They haven't won many major elections lately.

INSIDER

5:10 PM ET

October 14, 2009

Liz Cheney at State

If I could offer a tip to an enterprising investigative journalist, have someone take a close look at Liz Cheney's record at State, both heading up the Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and her later "Peter Principle" promotion to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in NEA. The quality of her vision was ghastly and the tales of management shortcomings were legion in the hallways of the State Department. There are several good articles waiting to be discovered. Trust me.