Bush Begins Counter-Attack
The confetti had yet to be swept off the convention center floor in Boston when Mr. Bush left
his ranch to begin campaigning for election to the office he now holds thanks to the Supreme
Court. It has been a very frustrating time for the White House with Mr. Kerry and the
likeable Mr. Edwards not putting a foot wrong while going through the nominating formalities.
Apparently, the Bushies are so frustrated that they aren't thinking straight. Their latest
efforts to slam Senator Kerry may blow up in their faces.
Part of the president's address to voters over the week-end included the statement "results
matter." The idea is to portray Senator Kerry's 18 years in the Senate as bereft of
achievement. And it is true that there are other legislators with more bills and laws attached
to their names. But this approach is flawed strategically. The Bush family excels at running
against an opponent, but the weakness of the clan in is defending its own record. As an
incumbent, Mr. Bush must focus on his record, not that of Mr. Kerry.
"Results matter." That will become a Kerry campaign slogan before long. The Bush
administration will be the first since the Hoover years to lose jobs -- results matter. The Bush
administration has seen more Americans than ever go without health insurance -- results
matter. Almost 1,000 dead Americans in Iraq (probably more by election day) and no
weapons of mass destruction found -- results matter. America is disliked and even detested
throughout the world less than three years after having the sympathy of the human races in the
wake of the Al-Qaeda attack -- results matter.
Mr. Bush is in a great deal of trouble if this is his campaign approach. The attack will
become the basis of a defeat. There are more promising strategies that the White House
should consider. "A nation at war shouldn't change leaders in mid-stream" may resonate
(FDR). "A secret plan to end the war in Iraq" could work (Nixon). "God, guns and gays"
may be the alternative employed here, using social intolerance to split the nation -- one might
call it the Malcolm X strategy, "by any means necessary."
In the face of this more plausible victory strategy, the Kerry-Edwards campaign has
inoculated itself by putting on a happy-face convention that even President Reagan would
have found too upbeat under the circumstances. But that is the only response to
hate-mongering that has a hope of winning.
In the end, this campaign is Senator Kerry's to lose. While Mr. Bush will rally in the polls,
and probably lead after his convention, the body count in Iraq and the slowing economy in
America create a constellation of conditions that favors the challenger. However, Al-Qaeda
still may have a card to play in the election. No attack against the US fatherland in 34 months
suggests that they will attack elsewhere if at all. The Olympic Games in security-poor Greece
begin in two weeks.
© Copyright 2004 by
The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without
written consent.
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