Thursday, February 12, 2004
Said my Republican friend a few days ago (whose confidence in Bush has eroded recently): So I have come to you, my liberal friend, to help me feel good about Mr. Kerry. What can you give me?
Dear Republican Friend:
Well to start with I could give you a big kiss for the mere fact that you have shown up at my virtual liberal doorstep. But obviously a kiss alone wouldn't be enough to get you to vote for Kerry (were it so easy!). So here goes:
I had previously gone on record as saying that there wasn't a Democratic candidate who all-out inspired me. Up until recently, all of the runners had suffered what has been ailing Democrats for a long time: their inability to present a cogent vision that doesn't alienate voters because it sounds so glum, whinny, and expensive. They've also had an extremely difficult time uniting their party because the party itself tends to be a much more eclectic mix than that of the Republicans. But then along came the Democratic primaries and something great happened. Dean showed fire-in-his-belly-rhetoric that matched any Republican's. Edwards came along and demonstrated that it is possible for a Democrat to present a message in a positive light. But it is Kerry who has been able to capitalize on this configuration by taking these elements and incorporating them into his own campaign.
So what does that say? Nothing really except it looks like it is going to be a Kerry/Edwards ticket. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate and Kerry is no exception. He's had some great ideas in the past, the downside of which that not many of them got very far. He has some serious accounting to do to prove he is not just as much a 'special interest schmoozer' as those he claims he is going to show the door. He's also known to be a opportunist and flip-flopper.
Nonetheless, I think the key appeal for me is the vision thing. So if you were to ask me what Kerry's strengths are in terms of deserving to beat Bush, I would say:
1) Kerry seems to have a keen understanding of the importance of incorporating policies which will make this country an environmentally sustainable one so that your children and grandchildren can enjoy life on this planet (V.s. Bush, who not once in the State of the Union speech mentioned the environment, even so as far as I am concerned it will come to be a national security issue that far exceeds any terrorist threat we could ever think of. And yet nearly every policy Bush espouses is one that follows oil to its invariable demise in the near future).
2) He is keenly aware that our military is dangerously over-extended and international relations frayed almost beyond repair and would seek to rectify this (Vs. Bush who has recklessly and arrogantly pursued a unilateral foreign policy that we will be paying for many decades to come both in terms of debt and LIVES).
3) He is keenly aware that our record budget deficit is grossly out of whack and will do something about it (Vs. Bush's out-on-Mars ideas that you can keep cutting taxes and continue spending gobs of money at the same time).
4) And finally, Kerry has the political clout and infrastructure connections that will be vital to success.
If you close your eyes and listen carefully you can hear the Bush re-election campaigners lock, load, and start to take aim with $100 M worth of ammunition at Kerry's botoxed forehead. It's going to get ugly for sure. But just keep thinking about your little baby due soon and you'll know what to do when it comes time to pull the lever in the voting booth...
More to come but I'm afraid I have about 500 people on hold wanting to weigh in on gay marriage...
Dear Republican Friend:
Well to start with I could give you a big kiss for the mere fact that you have shown up at my virtual liberal doorstep. But obviously a kiss alone wouldn't be enough to get you to vote for Kerry (were it so easy!). So here goes:
I had previously gone on record as saying that there wasn't a Democratic candidate who all-out inspired me. Up until recently, all of the runners had suffered what has been ailing Democrats for a long time: their inability to present a cogent vision that doesn't alienate voters because it sounds so glum, whinny, and expensive. They've also had an extremely difficult time uniting their party because the party itself tends to be a much more eclectic mix than that of the Republicans. But then along came the Democratic primaries and something great happened. Dean showed fire-in-his-belly-rhetoric that matched any Republican's. Edwards came along and demonstrated that it is possible for a Democrat to present a message in a positive light. But it is Kerry who has been able to capitalize on this configuration by taking these elements and incorporating them into his own campaign.
So what does that say? Nothing really except it looks like it is going to be a Kerry/Edwards ticket. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate and Kerry is no exception. He's had some great ideas in the past, the downside of which that not many of them got very far. He has some serious accounting to do to prove he is not just as much a 'special interest schmoozer' as those he claims he is going to show the door. He's also known to be a opportunist and flip-flopper.
Nonetheless, I think the key appeal for me is the vision thing. So if you were to ask me what Kerry's strengths are in terms of deserving to beat Bush, I would say:
1) Kerry seems to have a keen understanding of the importance of incorporating policies which will make this country an environmentally sustainable one so that your children and grandchildren can enjoy life on this planet (V.s. Bush, who not once in the State of the Union speech mentioned the environment, even so as far as I am concerned it will come to be a national security issue that far exceeds any terrorist threat we could ever think of. And yet nearly every policy Bush espouses is one that follows oil to its invariable demise in the near future).
2) He is keenly aware that our military is dangerously over-extended and international relations frayed almost beyond repair and would seek to rectify this (Vs. Bush who has recklessly and arrogantly pursued a unilateral foreign policy that we will be paying for many decades to come both in terms of debt and LIVES).
3) He is keenly aware that our record budget deficit is grossly out of whack and will do something about it (Vs. Bush's out-on-Mars ideas that you can keep cutting taxes and continue spending gobs of money at the same time).
4) And finally, Kerry has the political clout and infrastructure connections that will be vital to success.
If you close your eyes and listen carefully you can hear the Bush re-election campaigners lock, load, and start to take aim with $100 M worth of ammunition at Kerry's botoxed forehead. It's going to get ugly for sure. But just keep thinking about your little baby due soon and you'll know what to do when it comes time to pull the lever in the voting booth...
More to come but I'm afraid I have about 500 people on hold wanting to weigh in on gay marriage...
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