E-mail:
Jack Balkin: jackbalkin at yahoo.com
Bruce Ackerman bruce.ackerman at yale.edu
Ian Ayres ian.ayres at yale.edu
Corey Brettschneider corey_brettschneider at brown.edu
Mary Dudziak mary.l.dudziak at emory.edu
Joey Fishkin joey.fishkin at gmail.com
Heather Gerken heather.gerken at yale.edu
Abbe Gluck abbe.gluck at yale.edu
Mark Graber mgraber at law.umaryland.edu
Stephen Griffin sgriffin at tulane.edu
Jonathan Hafetz jonathan.hafetz at shu.edu
Jeremy Kessler jkessler at law.columbia.edu
Andrew Koppelman akoppelman at law.northwestern.edu
Marty Lederman msl46 at law.georgetown.edu
Sanford Levinson slevinson at law.utexas.edu
David Luban david.luban at gmail.com
Gerard Magliocca gmaglioc at iupui.edu
Jason Mazzone mazzonej at illinois.edu
Linda McClain lmcclain at bu.edu
John Mikhail mikhail at law.georgetown.edu
Frank Pasquale pasquale.frank at gmail.com
Nate Persily npersily at gmail.com
Michael Stokes Paulsen michaelstokespaulsen at gmail.com
Deborah Pearlstein dpearlst at yu.edu
Rick Pildes rick.pildes at nyu.edu
David Pozen dpozen at law.columbia.edu
Richard Primus raprimus at umich.edu
K. Sabeel Rahmansabeel.rahman at brooklaw.edu
Alice Ristroph alice.ristroph at shu.edu
Neil Siegel siegel at law.duke.edu
David Super david.super at law.georgetown.edu
Brian Tamanaha btamanaha at wulaw.wustl.edu
Nelson Tebbe nelson.tebbe at brooklaw.edu
Mark Tushnet mtushnet at law.harvard.edu
Adam Winkler winkler at ucla.edu
President Bush has a lead, and there are less than six weeks left in the campaign. But the situation in Iraq is falling apart. What's an incumbent President to do?
Lie about it. Tell everyone we are on the road to democracy, and that your critics are not interested in making America safe.
It doesn't matter whether you are blowing smoke. Most Americans don't know what is going on in Iraq, and they believe exactly what the media tell them. The media is too busy worrying about fonts on selectric typewriters and other trivialities, which have sucked all the air out of public discourse. Nobody's looking. Nobody's going to hold you accountable. Just Lie.
Repeat a few simple phrases that suggest that you are confident that the country is on the right track, and you can coast to victory. It doesn't matter if you can't offer any persuasive details to justify your assertions. In today's world, people like simple statements and simple answers. They like confidence. They want to be reassured.
Be Relaxed. Be Confident. Say reassuring things. It doesn't really matter if they are true. People don't know and don't care about the truth. They can't handle the truth.
Scare people and then tell them everything will be all right if they stick with the devil they know. Do this repeatedly. Scare and reassure. Scare and reassure. Tell people they are in danger from forces they can't control, and that you will keep them safe. Tell people that everying is going fine and that you will stay the course. You don't have to say anything substantive. In fact, it's best if you don't. You are manipulating people's emotions, not appealing to their intelligence.
Just keep it up for six more weeks, and then you can do anything you want. You'll win, and the mass media will fall all over themselves saying what a great leader you are.
The Democrats will wonder why they picked such a bad candidate for President, and the self-immolation of the Democratic Party will begin.
Even a lie is unnecessary...as you said, most are drastically uninformed about the state of the "war," and so as long as there are no more glaring atrocities on the 11:00 news, I doubt it'll affect him much...