GOP wants `cut and run' label to stick

WASHINGTON -- It began in the 1700s as nautical shorthand for a swift retreat, a commander's order to slash his ship's anchor chain and outrace overwhelming enemy fire. Over centuries, as sailing ships gave way to ironclads, the phrase drifted to the linguistic backwater.

Now, however, ``cut and run," has sailed back into the national lexicon -- particularly on Capitol Hill.

As Congress debated the Iraq war yesterday, Republicans bombarded Democrats at every turn with the phrase, the GOP's latest way of branding their opponents on the congressional record -- and in headlines -- as weak on defense.

``Cutting and running is bad policy that threatens our national security and poses unacceptable risks to Americans," declared Bill Frist, Senate majority leader.

With Iraq looming over the upcoming midterm elections, both the GOP and the Democrats are jockeying for position, using an unpopular war to try to influence voters. But analysts say the Republicans' ability to use language to outmaneuver Democrats could transform three small words into an advantage at the ballot box.

Search for ``cut and run" in the Congressional Record, and nearly 91 entries refer to the Democrats and Iraq; the phrase was used dozens of times in just three days of floor speeches in the House and the Senate. Enter ``cut and run" into an Internet search engine and nearly a dozen pages pop up, most linking to bloggers discussing the GOP party line.

Stephen Hess , a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution, said the phrase is the latest example of Republican mastery of political shorthand.

``Nobody uses a phrase like that in a favorable sentence," he said. ``You're never honoring a person for cutting and running. [Republicans] have got a phrase that sticks to your ribs, if you will."

So sticky, in fact, that Democrats -- who say they favor a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq -- seem hard-pressed to avoid the phrase, even when vigorously defending themselves.

``Instead of offering a blueprint for success, the Bush administration has used the Iraq debate to attack Democrats for wanting to cut and run," Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, said at a press conference yesterday. ``This amendment is not cut and run. This is about getting the president to do the job correctly, something he has failed to do."

Hess said Democratic strategists have, on occasion, come up with the right phrase for the right moment, but was hard pressed to give an example.

``The Democrats were going to wage at least part of the mid term elections on the [Republican] `culture of corruption,' a pretty good phrase," Hess said. ``The problem was twofold -- first it turns out there was corruption on both sides, so it was a little difficult to say, `Ah, that exclusively describes the Republicans.' Secondly, it turns out the American people didn't care all that much."

George Lakoff, a linguist at the University of California-Berkeley, said ``cut and run" has become an effective catch phrase.

``What it says is, `You're a coward,' and moreover it presupposes that the opposite is to stand and fight," said Lakoff, a senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute, a progressive think tank. Lakoff said Republicans have become skilled at distilling an issue to a simple phrase. ``Then they repeat it over and over until it becomes part of people's brains. The Democrats haven't learned to do that."

Voters tend to respond to a message ``that fits on a bumper sticker," Hess said. Sometimes, he added, ``You can have a good bumper sticker and a bad issue."

Rick Klein and Susan Milligan of the Globe staff contributed to this report.