Bleak weekend
Jack Bogdanski
These are not good times for the left. Kerry's been windsurfing when he should have been eating ham sandwiches with West Virginia miners. And he keeps preaching to the choir while the folks in the middle pews keep leaning over toward you-know-Who.
This morning, as I was getting out of the shower, I thought, "Dammit, Kerry, you need to start sounding more like Edwards did in the primaries. And where the heck is Bill Clinton? Let's get Clinton out front for the next six weeks!"
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10:49 p.m.
Sep 3, '04
Wait, aren't you the same Jack Bogdanski who posted this?
12:46 a.m.
Sep 4, '04
Same old me.
In the mudslinging department, it was good for him to slap back. But he made the same remarks today, and he'd better change the subject pretty quick.
He needs to start talking about terrorism and taxes -- the two areas he's way behind in. And in those areas, he needs to go to the middle ground.
What if he says, "I'm not against all the features of the Patriot Act. There are parts of it we need to have. But..." Does he lose some votes to Nader? Not many. But could that kind of comment tip Ohio in his favor? Entirely possible.
Or how about: "There are parts of the President's tax cuts that make sense to me. But there are other parts that make no sense." Again, not many votes will be lost, but more can be gained.
The primaries are way over. It's time to do a Slick Willie and slime toward the center. Doesn't he get it?
1:48 a.m.
Sep 4, '04
No sliming necessary.
Most everyone who has read the Patriot Act agrees with some part of it.
Kerry's already said the part of the tax cut he has the most trouble with is the upper end where most of the money is going.
That's not a call for him to change his positions, just to express them more plainly.
2:34 a.m.
Sep 4, '04
Agreed!
Sep 4, '04
I agree with Jack's post from Thursday. I disagree with this "these are bleak times for the left" post. Here's why:
To start, consider these two words: "unfunded mandates."
This pair of words sums up the Bush first term (No Child Left Standing, African AIDS funding, Homeland Security, the Bush Tax Loan). It also describes the agenda outlined in Thursday night's speech. Continuing the Cowboy doctrine of foreign policy, privatizing Social Security, reinventing Medicare, creating a National Sales Tax: to put these forth as no-cost, no-sacrifice propositions is pure fantasia from the animators at the Heritage Institute. In fact, this is precisely the sort of thing many Americans associate with the left. More Bush mandates, more mess for the average citizen to clean up after 2008.
Second, I am not worried about the health hiatus of Clinton. He offsets himself these days. Clinton rallies the base of both parties. Too many conservatives have few positives to offer about the President, a few sour chestnuts they have collected about Kerry and Edwards, and a boatload of venom for Clinton. And Clinton is not going to be the one who convinces swing voters. Kerry has to do that himself.
Now, Kerry and Edwards' teamwork over the past ten days should give us something to cheer about. Edwards played first responder to the Swift Boat attacks and Kerry waited until the time was right. Bush's acceptance speech and Kerry's counter-punch ran together on Friday. Hopefully, we'll see more combinations like this.
Finally, there is another reason the left should cheer. The primary message of the Republican Convention was, in effect, "Anyone but Kerry," not, "4 more years."
Kerry pegged the Bush campaign yesterday in Ohio:
"All hat, no cattle."
Sep 7, '04
I'm no so sure I agree with the conventional wisdom that Kerry needs to really go after the "swing vote". I think if he can pull in the same people who voted for Gore last time, plus increase the turnout, that should be enough to get a victory.
<h2>I think that the key is energizing those who would typically lean left anyway. Get the youngsters out there to vote in droves, and I think Kerry can ride to the White House on their backs.</h2>