"Otherwise, I've been staying away from politics for the most part, because it's depressing. Have you ever seen two candidates run a worse campaign? Man, neither one can come up with a compelling message, or a reason for people to vote for them. It seems that the core voters look at Bush as being a bigger terrorist basher, and voters for Kerry see him as not being Bush.
Kerry can't seem to get off of the war veteran thing. It's his fault for making such a big deal out of it at the convention. Didn't eight years of Bill Clinton tell us that people don't care if you had military service? It's not a convincing argument that you'll be a good leader in a war situation - especially participation in Vietnam.
The swift boat veterans are truly a bunch of bitter men. I think that they are exaggerating Kerry's record as much as Kerry whitewashes it. The past is past, and now Mr. Kerry you're a man in your 50's, not a young kid in the military. how will you handle the challenge before us know? What is your plan? You say you can run a better war, tell me what steps you've made to prepare yourself for that.
Kerry says he'll get our allies involved, and get them into Iraq, while we pull out. What possible reason would a country want to go into Iraq and clean up our mess? Sorry John, we're in it, and we need to get the Iraqis on their feet and then work on a troop reduction. Like post-war Germany, we're likely to have troops there for the next 50 years. Let's be realistic. You can work towards that strategy, but you know it's more politically popular to say that you'll pull out all of the troops. Political populism isn't a good strategy.
Kerry has focused so much on the war, that he's dropped the domestic agenda, where he's much stronger. Bush's domestic agenda is a hodgepodge of politically targeted agendas, while Kerry could pursue a more middle-targeted message that would appeal to voters. I think he's missing out where his strength could be.
Bush has been running a bad campaign as well. It will be interesting to see if he will move to the center at the upcoming convention, or stay with his Christian-Coalition approved message. He's been running ads during the Olympics, featuring some anonymous swimmers and a voiceover stating that in 1945, their were 40 democracies, now there are 120, including two new ones.
Um, Earth to Bush, most of this didn't happen on your watch. In fact, the majority of the new "democracies" are the old Soviet states, and I think Reagan, Gorbachev, and maybe even your dad could take more credit for that than you can. Besides, no country in the world is a democracy, in the true sense of the word. They are representative republics with varying shades of socialism, and personally, I think the jury's still out on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Out of the 202 countries competing at the olympics, 120 have representative governments. OK, how many of them have you pissed off, Mr. Bush?
I'm glad that Texas isn't a battleground state. We miss a lot of the stupidity of these guys."
-From Michael Edwards of Houston.
Posted by Dennis at August 19, 2004 09:56 AMI hate this kind of commentary. It's the "some people" ploy. Which "liberals" is she talking about? Where are the quotes proving her point? She doesn't name names, and, even if she did, she would only be quoting the thoughts of a few particular people -- certainly not every Democrat or all liberals or even every person who might have some criticism of Bush.
I've never heard anyone specifically criticize Bush as a big baby.
If there is a perception of him as "infantile" I don't think it comes from the statements of his critics but rather from the actions of his supporters. The extraordinary lengths that his political handlers go to protect him from any contact with any but the most ardent fans, their extreme reaction to even the mildest criticism -- and, most important, the unrelenting, non-stop PR machine that is constantly trying to inflate him and everything he does into something bigger than life and mythic -- often just makes him, on the one hand, seem sadly fearful, and, on the other hand, smaller than he would appear if he was willing to face the American public more honestly.
The pretzel incident is a perfect example of how silly the over-zealous PR machine can be -- when they rushed out reports about how his fainting was caused by his extreme fitness. As if they were deathly afraid that without a full court PR press someone somewhere might think he was a wimp. But, when you are so obviously afraid of being perceived as a wimp, you do start to look a little wimpy.
Another example is the constant costuming -- the aircraft carrier fiasco being one of the most notable examples. In trying so hard to look big than life he ultimately ended up looking small.
This is an age, of course, when all Presidents are surrounded by people whose job it is to constantly be fluffing and manipulating their public image. But this president's image machine is so large and exercises such iron control -- and, most important, is so dedicated to not just projecting a good and appealing image but even more so an heroic one in which macho must always be projected and no weakness ever revealed (and every mild criticism hysterically denounced and condemned) -- that instead often makes one suspect just the opposite -- that there is a small and sadly fearful man behind all the aggressive puffery.
Americans have never been kind to their sitting presidents. In part, it is our way of expressing the fact that in this country power resides in the people -- and not the guy who just temporarily holds office. Nothing makes Bush look weaker than the fact that he can't accept the criticism, even from time to time the derision, of a boisterous and free people with a little more grace and humility.
Worst campaign ever? Seems like this title gets re-awarded every four years. :-)
Basically, what liberals see as Bush's faults, conservatives see as his strengths. Where liberals see arrogance, conservatives see confidence. Where liberals see a Messiah Complex, conservatives see decisiveness. Where liberals seem a simplistic man, conservatives see an unpretentious man.
These interpretations have less to do with Bush and more to do with what individual prism he's viewed through.
Myself, I can't stand Bush and I'm voting for Nader (out of conviction, not protest), just like I did in 2000. I understand, though, what his appeal is to some people.
Posted by: Brian at August 19, 2004 04:23 PM