Sunday, November 07, 2004

4 More Years

One big question exists for me after this election. Is Karl Rove a genius or did John Kerry and the Democrats run the worst campaign in a long time? I give Rove all the credit in the world for running a great campaign but the truth is the Kerry camp along with the DNC ran a really poor campaign. A few observations...

Iraq
Kerry was never able to get a sound and coherent message out about Iraq. I still am not totally sure what his actually view on the war is. This is where Howard Dean would have been a much better candidate for the dems. He could have pounded at Iraq over and over because he has always had a solid anti war stance.

Economy
Unfortunately for Kerry, the more time passed the better the economy got. Really not much he could do about that. However, states like Ohio which the economy has been slower to recover should have been won by Kerry handedly. Ohio should have been a state blue.

Morality
This is the issue (according to exit polling which all the sudden we are trusting even though they said Kerry would win Florida and Ohio and well the election, but whatever) that won it for Bush. This is where just being a democrat hurt Kerry. Pro-Gay and Pro-Abortion is anti-traditional values. Homosexuality and abortion weren't really talked about much on the campaign trails, but Homosexuality became a backdoor (no pun intended) issue when 11 states put a gay marriage ban referendums on the ballots. That brought out the morality vote and had a huge affect on this election.

Identifying with the electorate
This is where Kerry lacks the most in my opinion. I mean how does the average American relate to a guy has been rich his whole life, doesn't know the name of lambeau field, and throws like a girl. Not to mention his senatorial droney voice. Bottom line, people didn't buy into Kerry. I have yet to talk to anyone who voted for Kerry because they liked him. They voted for Kerry because he was running against Bush or because they were lifelong dems. It is very hard to win an election just simply being the anti-incumbent. You have to be able to stand on your own.

Wildcards
Kerry's senate record. Did he ever bring up anything he accomplished in his 20 years in Washington? Bush pounded on that off and on for the whole campaign and I believe it had an affect.
Swift Boat Vets for Truth. They basically wasted all the effort put into the democratic national convention. Whether you believe the swift boat vets or not, they put that seed of doubt in your mind about his integrity and whether or not he was worthy of being commander and chief.

So that's why Bush won or better said why Kerry lost. Liberals across America are still feeling the shock and are a bitter bitter lot, but I don't know how they can change this. The nation seems to be drifting right, meaning if the Democrats don't change they will lose more seats and the presidency in '08. A couple things I would do immediately to turn things around if i were a leader in the democratic party: 1. Fire Terry McAuliffe, sure he can raise money but he's been an overall failure. A fresh start is needed. 2. Find a good old boy Southern Democrat to prime for '08, Northwest liberals aren't going to cut it for a long long time.

Here's hoping Bush has a successful next four years and doesn't make me regret voting for him. He'll deffinitely have more room to do what he wants now considering he doesn't have to worry about reelection and has a majority in both houses.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Moore is Less

Outside of President Bush, there is no more polarizing man (right now) in the US then Michael Moore. I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 about a week after it came out. It is an interesting film that will get a reaction out of anybody. The other Moore film I have seen was "Bowling for Columbine" which I enjoyed and found to actually be a documentary that was certainly deserving of an oscar. F 9/11 gave me a different reaction. Many have called the film propaganda--certainly true, but for me it was one giant hate-fest for the grand old party and rich people; the manifestation of both being President Bush.

Moore is extremely good at what he does, playing to emotions of hate, anger, and envy. F 9/11 summed up to me as, "Bush is a rich, lying, thief who you should hate just as much as I do." I'm not going to even bother going into the details of bin laden's family never really being allowed out of the country by Bush or the 9/11 commission, the senate investigation, and the British investigation clearly stating Bush did not lie but was given bad information which he acted on. For Moore that matters little, the important thing is that he energizes liberals for this upcoming election and maybe even sway a few independents.

What is scary is the hero Michael Moore has become to so many liberals. I mean honestly, do democrats like John Kerry? Sure some may actually like the man, but most democrats voted for Kerry because they thought he was the most electable (which I disagree with, I found Edwards a much more appealing candidate for moderates and independents) and not because they were impressed with Kerry. The dems have become the "Anybody but Bush" party. For this reason democrats have gravitated toward Moore. They like him because he's a fighter, intelligent sounding, and funny. The problem is they don't only like him, but they believe everything he says and spread his lies to those they know. As much as President Bush has hurt the unity of this country with his action, Michael Moore has intensified that disunity even more with his words and his film.

As I sat in that movie theater watching F 9/11 end with Bush stumbling over his words in a speech, I wondered to myself what everyone around me thought about the movie. My question was quickly answered with cheering and clapping. I could only smile and think, "Is this nation ever going to recover from the deep seeded hate?" Unfortunately I don't think we will; well not as long as people like Michael Moore continue take Machiavellian means to their ends.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Decision 2004

Well its that time again. President Bush will take on long time Senator John Kerry in November for the position of most powerful man in the world.  Just think about the job of President first off. Domestically, the President has to further an agenda that will improve areas of need such as the economy, social security, and medicare/cade. Of course, Bush or Kerry will not get the exactly what they want or not even close to what they want because representatives and senators will do their best to get as much pork as possible and in some cases will try to kill bills to make the President look bad. Foreign policy will be the President's number one concern next term. Both Kerry and Bush are aware that a terror attack under their watch will not be forgiven and will lead to a one term presidency for Kerry or a Democrat winning in 2008 for Bush. Finally, look good doing it. Today's President can not just simply be good at his job, he has to be charismatic and connect with a large segment of Americans.

Being President takes a special person. For all the jokes and cracks about Bush's intelligence, anyone would acknowledge he is doing an extremely tough job and most would acknowledge he has done atleast a decent job as President. The biggest feather in his cap is his leadership post 9/11. This is why that aspect of his presidency has been challenged so often by the Democrats. Despite these attacks, the majority of Americans still think he is the more capable in foreign policy/leading the war of terror then John Kerry.

"July 01, 2004
Issue of Terrorism Continues to Favor Bush
Most Americans believe 9/11 attacks could not have been prevented
by David W. Moore and Jeffrey M. Jones
A recent Gallup survey finds that a majority of Americans approve of the way President George W. Bush is handling terrorism and believe that he, rather than likely Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, would do a better job of handling the issue. About 4 in 10 Americans assign at least a moderate amount of blame to the Bush administration for the terrorist attacks on 9/11, but about the same number also blame the Clinton administration. Most Americans, however, believe the 9/11 attacks could not have been prevented."

I agree with most Americans on this issue. Sure, Iraq has not been all peaches and cream, but I would rather have a pro-active President who actively seeks out threats and deals with them asap. Kerry voted to give the President the power to go to war in Iraq, yet later voted against  the 80 billion to fund the troops and rebuild Iraq. That is enough for me to seriously question Kerry's foreign policy. Those two votes prove to me that he would be a President without convictions who simply will do what public or possibly international pressure will tell him to do.

I admitedly do not like Bush's handling of the economy. Tax cuts are fine with a surplus, but increases in spending and tax cuts with a deficit simply does not make sense. The problem is Kerry really has not given a plan to counter Bush's handling of the economy.

So right now I'm leaning toward voting for Bush, but I will be watching the conventions and debates closely. One thing is for sure, this is going to be close and both parties are out for blood.   



Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Liberal

Ever wonder if someone is a liberal? There's a fool proof test to know for sure. A person's reaction to simply the word liberal is all you need to know. If the person wishes to distance himself from the word liberal then he's not a liberal (well one exception, when the person is running for office). If the person says something to the affect of, "I'm not, but what's wrong with being a liberal?" or openly embraces the label, he is a liberal.

So now that you know who's a liberal, now you need to know why liberals are dangerous. They are dangerous for the same reason "right wingers" are dangerous. Being an extremeist is never good. Case and point example religion. Look not farther then bombed out abortion clinics and the big hole in the ground that used to be the world trade center. In America, political extremeists may not kill people (although I know of some people who would claim Bill Clinton has), but they will do whatever else they can to further their positions.

The most dangerous part of being on the political far left and far right in America is the affect it has on this country's unity and reputation. The most common attack on the unity of the country is the president being acted by the opposing party. Bill Clinton, for all his faults, was wrongly accused of using the military action in Kosovo to divert attention from his impeachment. George W. Bush, for all his faults, was wrongly attacked for those words in the State of the Union about Iraq trying to buy yellow cake from Africa. These tactics of attacking the President, whether true or not, polarize the country and a polarized country does not progress.

Another attack on the unity of America is the issue of patriotism. The right wing waves flags to a fault and drop F bombs on people they disagree with on the senate floor (sorry I hate Cheney, couldn't help myself). Anyone who doesn't fully support the war in iraq or say nothing but "Bush is a great leader" are unpatriotic. Liberals on the other hand act more often like they wished they lived in France. A proclaimed liberal who I work with says his favorite rendition of the national anthem was by Roseanne and he would dodge a draft if faced with that situation.

As for the country's reputation, Michael Moore and the rest of Hollywood types continue to bash America in European press. While the right continuely discredits the United Nations and all other countries who have disagreements with American pro-war policies.

Bottomline, be open minded. No one is always right. The choice is clear, be a moderate.

Monday, July 12, 2004

Greed

I've worked on an assembly line during the summer. Its not a bad job and it pays ok, well I thought it payed ok until today. Today I found out a part we make about 200 of a week is sold individually for a sum of money that is more then I make in a month. Yet, American companies continue to "out-source" labor and layoff workers (the company I work for also has a history of this).

Now I'm all for innovative businessmen making a good profit and being set for life, but not at the expense of middle income hard working people with families to support. Too often capitalism and freedom/liberty/patriotism are all viewed as the same. Today's American capitalism is anything but patriotic; it is simply greed.