Mud tossed at Kerry might stick to Bush

Ouch. Maybe Bush had better skip the "Kerry's an elitist waffler" campaign and go straight to the War on Syria.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/03/10/mud_tossed_at_kerry_might_stick_to_bush/

By Robert Kuttner, 3/10/2004

THE BUSH CAMPAIGN has a problem. Almost any unflattering issue they bring up about John Kerry tends to reflect worse on President Bush. One thinks of the old proverb, "Never mention a rope in the house of a man who was hanged."

On Monday, speaking at a fund-raiser in Houston, the president tried out what will doubtless be a Republican mantra: "Senator Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, for NAFTA, for No Child Left Behind, and for the use of force in Iraq. Now he opposes the Patriot Act, NAFTA, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the liberation of Iraq. My opponent clearly has strong convictions -- they just don't last very long."

There are two very persuasive rejoinders. For starters, most senators and congressmen also voted for No Child Left Behind and for force in Iraq, but quickly turned into critics because Bush pulled a bait-and-switch.

Similarly, most legislators were stampeded into supporting the so-called Patriot Act, which increases permissible spying on Americans, and now have regrets. Today, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Sensenbrenner, says the Patriot Act will be extended "over my dead body." So Kerry is in very good company.

The second rejoinder is even more potent: Compared with whom? If Kerry occasionally modifies his positions as events change, his inconstancy is pretty mild compared with Bush's. This, after all, is a president who ran as a "uniter, not a divider," as a "compassionate conservative," and as a steward of budgetary prudence. The rest is history, and the history does not flatter the president.

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This is EXACTLY what we should be discussing on d.u. We need to get a core group to focus on voter registration, public education, and minority participation in the fall election. Thank you.

I read a good article in a similar vein on slate the other day, by Will Saletan.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2096654/

The story is about how Bush's selling points in the coming election (confidence, "steady" leadership) really make the case against him

n/t

:kick:

actual conflict.

And I wonder how many "non-elitists" got to stay home and fly around in outdated jets for the Air National Guard.

How did elitist get to be turned around to refer to people who try to help the general public?

is his endorsement by the United Farm Workers. An obviously 'elitist' organization, representing the 'elite' migrant worker class.

thank you