I still have a hard time understanding why Bush’s support, especially among veterans, is so high. I can’t imagine any man admiring Bush as a role model, but many millions do.
Perhaps these people are mesmerized by his and his family’s wealth. Maybe his handlers makes them feel good by playing to childish emotions, like the practice of making fun of other people or setting them up as “outsiders”.
John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry are a tough sell. He’s remote and she’s “foreign”. Kerry’s big opportunity will be the debates, and I’ve predicted in this weblog that we’ll see some pseudo-crisis emerge the day following each of the debates, especially October 14.
There’s also a lot of people who voted for Bush who don’t want to feel that they made a mistake. They voted less pro Bush and more anti-Gore/Clinton. Monica-gate aside, I wonder how much of that was racist backlash against Clinton’s closeness with the Black community, and resentment that “their” money was going to support progressive ends, like after school programs for poor kids.
As a Libertarian, I’m a classic Conservative in a lot of ways, and for my money (pun intended), Bush is anything but Conservative. So, I don’t buy any of the anti L-word arguments – anyone who doesn’t see that Bush’s fiscal policies are reckless is running away from the truth.
The facts speak for themselves but not loudly enough, and as someone wrote earlier this week, the Dems need their own Carl Rove to manipulate the ugly underside of the “swing” voters’ psyches. John Kerry hasn’t as much attacked Bush as he has defended himself.
For the most part, the progressives’ “attacks” on Bush & Co. have taken the high road, focusing on the record (Halliburton, WMD’s, etc.) But there’s been no concerted focus on the flaws in Bush’s character.
So, what would be some weaknesses that could be exploited by a Democratic version of Carl Rove?
– Bush is a liar.
– He is a person of privilege who has earned nothing and been handed everything.
– He doesn’t respect the rules of fair play.
– He’s weak.
– He’s a coward.
In other words, “play” to base human tribal revulsion of someone handed a leadership position who fails to exemplify many of our core societal values, especially those specifically to do with honor, courage, independence: in a word, machismo.