Low Grade Panic
TomPaine.com - The Fearful Voter
David Corn makes good sense in this analysis of the status of the Kerry campaign and of what has happened and is happening to propel Bush into the lead.
But if I were inclined to hurl my own two cents at the Kerry campaign, I do not know what specific advice I would provide. It seems that his campaign and the Bush effort exist in alternate universes. Bush is pushing buttons, and Kerry is trying to score debating points.. . .
Kerry’s retort to Bush (and note that it is more parry than thrust) is that W. was “wrong” to launch this war—and “wrong” to promote tax cuts for the rich, “wrong” to neglect the health care crisis, “wrong” to stand by while manufacturing jobs disappeared, “wrong” to do nothing to preserve the ban on assault weapons, “wrong” to let the situation in North Korea deteriorate before addressing it. Kerry is correct on policy grounds. But his critique lacks the psychological punch of Bush’s vote-for-me-or-die argument. On one level, Kerry is saying that Bush’s decisions have endangered the nation. But he sure ain't saying it on the level where Bush (and Dick Cheney) are playing.
. . .
The recent polls spell trouble for Kerry. Not so much because they grant Bush a lead. What should be most disconcerting for Kerry fans are the respondents’ attitudes toward the candidates.
. . .
So apparently majority of the folks believe that the nation is on the wrong track and that Bush’s war in Iraq has been a bust. Yet they see Bush as a strong commander in chief and trust him to carry on.
No one ever said voting was logical.
Richard Reeve has argued that the Debates Will Decide This Election. If so Kerry needs to keep close until the end of the month and then demonstrate the debating prowess his Yale coach said was second in his experience only to that of William F. Buckley. At which point Corn's observation about scoring debating points versus pushing buttons resurfaces. Will Kerry be able to debate in the same universe as Bush/Cheney?
And no one ever said good sense brings solace.
