This is almost humorous to watch. The Republicans viciously attack John Kerry throughout their convention but whenever John Kerry criticizes Bush they act like “poor John Kerry needs to resort to negative attacks”. Further, they act like the Bush agenda is nothing but success after success and that John Kerry has not articulated his platform. None of this is true! Even if I try as hard as I can to pretend I am a Republican, I could not (yet) call the war in Iraq a success. There is still way too much volatility and the place is not secure. I think Saddam Hussein fooled us by telling his army to basically disappear into the citizenry. We could have violence for years in terms of civil war, an extremist Islamic state or a military government like we had under Hussein. In terms of protecting our interests in the Middle East, the current situation may or may not be to our long term advantage.
What else? Oh yeah, the economy. Well, not exactly the economy I’d want to hook my election wagon up to. There is no proof that tax cuts are helping the economy. Job creation is negative. The market is tepid. The national debt is soaring again. Where is the good news here — it could have been worse? Is Bush running under a “it could have been worse” slogan?
Now throw in the social issues. The Republican platform wants to deny all rights to same-sex couples. No hospital visitation, no estate planning, no shared insurance, nothing. They want to make abortion illegal. They want to prevent stem cell research. They want to teach creation in the schools. The want to abandon the UN. They want to have an international policy of preemption — attack first and ask questions later, just like we did in Iraq. (Oops, it turns out Iraq posed no threat to the United States.)
Bush has nothing great to run on. As John Stewart of the Daily Show says, it’s like the Republicans are saying “Give us 4 more years so we can continue the work we never started.” Bush uses the past tense to describe his accomplishments, like it is all completely solved: we left no child behind! we got prescription drugs taken care of! we made the world safer! None of this is true.
So Bush lashes out with the tried and true Republican tactics: he’s gonna raise taxes! he’s wobbly! he has no message. None of this is true. John Kerry is experienced, intelligent, capable, proven and twice the man Bush will ever be. He is not the most charismatic person in the world. He doesn’t speak to the heart as well as Clinton or Reagan. On issues, though, he is almost always right on. He is right about this stuff and given the chance his ideas will work.
This election is still very close and I still stand behind my prediction that Kerry will win.
Remember: if you don’t vote you are voting for 4 more years of Bush.
lolife 
I should clarify one comment in light of mopsa’s comment. I can’t think of anyone better qualified to protest a war than someone who fought in it. Nor can I think of someone more qualified to be Commander in Chief than someone who served honorably in two tours of duty in a combat environment.
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Hi, Jon. Thanks for your comments.
1. I don’t care about Bush’s National Guard record except in comparison with Kerry. What I mean is, if making fun of Kerry’s Purple Hearts is fair game (which it should not be) Bush and Cheney avoiding service in Vietnam is also fair game. I agree it should be a non-issue.
2. Did you read the Republican platform from the convention in regards to homosexuals? I should quote it but it says “no rights”. None. I and other liberals, on the other hand, advocate EQUAL rights.
3. The Right has certianly tied stem cell research to the abortion debate. They, like you, imagine baby farms for raw materials. That is not at all the situation. Science and ideology are not the same thing.
4. Read my blog in regards to abortion (“Why Abortion Should Not Be Illegal”). No one wants abortions. We want doctors to make health decisions, not beuracrats.
5. Typical bullshit, Jon, that liberals are weak on defense. It was conservatives in this country that didn’t think we should go to war in Europe in WWII. Remember when conservatives (from Bush’s own mouth) thought we should not be nation builders? Bush’s speech at the convention made it clear that nation building is now his policy. Admit it, man, Iraq is a mess.
6. Give me a flip-flopper over someone who is stubbornly and consistently WRONG. For example, all good Republicans know that tax cuts are the solution to every economic problem!
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Here’s an intersting question for you. Why do democrats care so much about Bush being in the National Guard when they cared so little about Clinton hiding out in Europe during those same years?
Why does the left insist on claiming the right wants “no rights” for homosexual couples, when, in fact, they advocate a status of civil unions to preserve those very rights?
Stem-cell research illegal? Far from it, but let’s not go around killing more babies just to harvest their cells. To date none of the embryonic stem-cell research has borne fruit, however, several strains of adult harvested stem-cells have produced very promising results.
Why do liberals claim to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, yet feel no mercy towards painfully ripping a baby to pieces with a high pressure vacuum as they suck the child out of the mother’s womb? Not a child? Then why is Scott Peterson being charged with TWO counts of murder?
Let’s see, the US military has been in Irag for well over a year now. My goodness, there’s no exit strategy, how could this have happened??? BTW, World War II ended 59 years ago and we still have troops in Japan and Germany. Oh, that’s right, it’s because the democrat in the White House at the time, didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Hitler and stop him before he murdered millions of Jews and countless others on his bloody march across Europe. The democrats in power knew that the barrier of two great oceans would keep us from any harm…except maybe for the thousands killed at Pearl Harbor.
Wobbly? Sen. Kerry would make one heck of a Weeble! Saying he’s “wobbly” is like suggesting that Lake Minnetonka might be damp! Whirling dervish fits. Trend follower fits. Flip-Flop fits, and you know what they say, “If the flip-flop fits, wear it!”
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I couldn’t agree more. I have always been amazed at Bush’s mostly defensive nature. The Republicans are fascinating whiners and Bush is a man-boy of the highest order. Apparently Clinton advised the Kerry camp that they needed to play harder hard ball in order to defeat Bush. They need to hit the issue of Bush’s service record (or lack thereof) harder and longer. Kerry’s campaign seems to be stressing issues that are obvious, but not necessarily hot buttons. They need to get down to the very base level and start reminding all those swift boat veterans that Kerry protested the horrors of a war that he witnessed first hand. They may not agree with him, but at least he was there fighting right beside them. Bush left the fighting, killing, bloodshed and post traumatic stress to everyone else. I’m shocked that everyone seems to be turning a blind eye to this huge issue. I can’t trust a war-time commander in chief who has no sense at all of what he’s asking his troops to do. And, on top of that, cannot admit to or be accountable, or just outright lies about his lack of experience in that regard. Kerry must win. Bush scares me. Like the 12 year old bully in the school yard scared me — he isn’t too swift and he uses his fists to compensate for it. Only Bush doesn’t use his fists — he uses the fists of nameless faceless boys, men and women from all over the country. And he does it in the name of God. Its fucking shameful.
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