Misoverestimated

3 September 2004



Bush's Convention Makes Silk Purse from Sow's Ear

The Bush administration has not been a success by most measures. There are fewer jobs in America than on inauguration day 2000. There is a record federal deficit rather than the surplus that existed when this administration took over the reins of government. American troops are dying in Iraq, almost a year and a half after the "end" of major combat operations. But the GOP did a fine job of putting lipstick on a pig with its convention.

The convention is a passe event in American politics. It does allow state and local politicians an opportunity to network, but beyond that, the convention has no content, no debate, and no meaning. It is a nightly infomercial that the networks don't even want to cover. Nothing new came from the Democrats in Boston, the Republicans in New York, nor for that matter from the Greens in Milwaukee (although they dealt a grave blow to Mr. Nader).

Lacking a record on which it can run, the Bush-Cheney team did the best it could. It brought out the moderates like Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger and hid the American Taleban faction that truly believes Jesus was a member of the Republican party. It paraded a Republican, Zell Miller, who claims to be a Democrat before the cameras, and he made a speech that made Dick Cheney look like the dispassionate one.

And Mr. Bush himself made a good enough speech thanks to the very low bar he has set for himself over the years. He will never relent, he says, from defending America, no matter what it takes. He says he has a plan for the economy. Anytime in the last forty five months would have been a good time to start either.

The real questions remain. Where is Usama bin Laden? Where are the jobs? Where are America's allies? Where is America's respect in the world? Where is America's economic strength? It is far easier to question the patriotism of the opponent than to admit that the Bush administration has bungled the major issues of the day. As President Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time." Mr. Bush must hope that he can win their votes. His convention went a long way to setting them up for a fall. But Hurricane Francis will take all of the oxygen out of the news, and Mr. Bush will find a minimal bounce where he needs it - in the industrial Midwest.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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