The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Feeling the heat...and it shows
Thomas Lifson over at the American Thinker has put together one of the best summaries I have read in some time on the real crisis in the Kerry campaign, and there have been a number of articles on this topic in recent days. The polls are starting to turn around for the President, a major hotspot has been calmed (for now) in Najaf, and the convention and 9/11 anniversary is just around the corner. There is definitely momentum in Bush's favor right now, and that isn't all:
The Kerry campaign is in crisis. Polling data is beginning to reflect a turn against his candidacy by the uncommitted and weakly-committed voters. The temptation for the campaigners is to blame the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth television commercials. But the real problem is much deeper, and relates at least as much to the candidate’s behavior, including his reaction to the commercials, as to the specifics of the commercials themselves.
Prior to running for President, John F. Kerry did not loom large in the public’s mind. His mediocre record in the Senate, where no major legislation bears his name despite a twenty year career, left him a blank slate as far as the national electorate was concerned. So he and his handlers understood that they were required to define his image in the public’s consciousness, before the Bush campaign had a chance to do so. Given his Senate voting record of opposing defense and intelligence spending and favoring tax increases, it must have seemed a wise choice to emphasize his much-decorated four months in Vietnam, in order to build an image as a brave warrior for the cause of America.
Kerry clearly knew prior to the Democratic Convention that there were risks in his warrior pose. But his experience in the realm of Massachusetts politics had taught him that he could override challenges to his record by waving the bloody shirt of his wartime decorations, or pulling status on his antagonists. Howie Carr, Boston Herald columnist and a radio talk show host syndicated in New England, has collected anecdotes over the years of Kerry bullying people with the question, “Do you know who I am?” in crowded restaurants, box office lines, and other situations where ordinary mortals are required to wait their turn.
Kerry had also been able to get away with prevarication for so many decades that he assumed he could continue to do so in the national arena. Despite having not a drop of Gaelic blood, he traded on his Irish-sounding name (actually, a corruption of Kohn) to attend St. Patrick’s Day events in South Boston, with no ill effects. His Christmas in Cambodia fantasy escaped challenge for decades, despite the obvious fact that his claim that President Nixon sent him there was easily falsified by reference to the inaugural date of his Presidency.
So, when the Swift Boat Vets challenge arrived on the scene, it was all too easy to fall back on the familiar tactic of ignoring it, in concert with the establishment media which pretended for over a week that it didn’t exist, trying to silence it via threatening letters to television stations, attacking the accusers, and finally claiming that it was unfair and disrespectful to his wartime brave service.
The problem for Kerry is that the public is now paying close attention. They are evaluating the character of the man who wants to be the next President, precisely because everyone knows that the next President is likely to face serious threats to our national welfare and even survival. The Clinton Presidency also heightened the appreciation of the importance of personal character.
Pretending that a threat doesn’t exist, denouncing it, claiming it is unfair, and trying to make it go away without directly confronting it, won’t work with al Qaeda. The public wants a strong leader who will take on and destroy those who would destroy us. John Kerry’s response to his political threat is exactly the wrong approach to use against a terror threat. He has defined himself negatively, in terms of the biggest issue facing Americans.
And now, with the Kerry campaign losing their collective cool and going all out to attempt to blame all of his problems on a non-existent Bush "smear campaign" (particularly after months and months of negative ads have been running by pro-Kerry 527's), Kerry is starting to appear positively "Gore-like" in his paranoia.
It is by no means over, however; we must continue to push and push hard. Kerry's history of prevarication coming to light helps, but this is still the most important election since any of us have been alive. We cannot let up, we must not falter now, when we are so close. And so the full court press continues. But, to say the least, things are looking up.
The Kerry campaign is in crisis. Polling data is beginning to reflect a turn against his candidacy by the uncommitted and weakly-committed voters. The temptation for the campaigners is to blame the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth television commercials. But the real problem is much deeper, and relates at least as much to the candidate’s behavior, including his reaction to the commercials, as to the specifics of the commercials themselves.
Prior to running for President, John F. Kerry did not loom large in the public’s mind. His mediocre record in the Senate, where no major legislation bears his name despite a twenty year career, left him a blank slate as far as the national electorate was concerned. So he and his handlers understood that they were required to define his image in the public’s consciousness, before the Bush campaign had a chance to do so. Given his Senate voting record of opposing defense and intelligence spending and favoring tax increases, it must have seemed a wise choice to emphasize his much-decorated four months in Vietnam, in order to build an image as a brave warrior for the cause of America.
Kerry clearly knew prior to the Democratic Convention that there were risks in his warrior pose. But his experience in the realm of Massachusetts politics had taught him that he could override challenges to his record by waving the bloody shirt of his wartime decorations, or pulling status on his antagonists. Howie Carr, Boston Herald columnist and a radio talk show host syndicated in New England, has collected anecdotes over the years of Kerry bullying people with the question, “Do you know who I am?” in crowded restaurants, box office lines, and other situations where ordinary mortals are required to wait their turn.
Kerry had also been able to get away with prevarication for so many decades that he assumed he could continue to do so in the national arena. Despite having not a drop of Gaelic blood, he traded on his Irish-sounding name (actually, a corruption of Kohn) to attend St. Patrick’s Day events in South Boston, with no ill effects. His Christmas in Cambodia fantasy escaped challenge for decades, despite the obvious fact that his claim that President Nixon sent him there was easily falsified by reference to the inaugural date of his Presidency.
So, when the Swift Boat Vets challenge arrived on the scene, it was all too easy to fall back on the familiar tactic of ignoring it, in concert with the establishment media which pretended for over a week that it didn’t exist, trying to silence it via threatening letters to television stations, attacking the accusers, and finally claiming that it was unfair and disrespectful to his wartime brave service.
The problem for Kerry is that the public is now paying close attention. They are evaluating the character of the man who wants to be the next President, precisely because everyone knows that the next President is likely to face serious threats to our national welfare and even survival. The Clinton Presidency also heightened the appreciation of the importance of personal character.
Pretending that a threat doesn’t exist, denouncing it, claiming it is unfair, and trying to make it go away without directly confronting it, won’t work with al Qaeda. The public wants a strong leader who will take on and destroy those who would destroy us. John Kerry’s response to his political threat is exactly the wrong approach to use against a terror threat. He has defined himself negatively, in terms of the biggest issue facing Americans.
And now, with the Kerry campaign losing their collective cool and going all out to attempt to blame all of his problems on a non-existent Bush "smear campaign" (particularly after months and months of negative ads have been running by pro-Kerry 527's), Kerry is starting to appear positively "Gore-like" in his paranoia.
It is by no means over, however; we must continue to push and push hard. Kerry's history of prevarication coming to light helps, but this is still the most important election since any of us have been alive. We cannot let up, we must not falter now, when we are so close. And so the full court press continues. But, to say the least, things are looking up.
