Posted on 05/29/2004 11:36:18 PM PDT by FairOpinion
You couldn't turn on the news last week in America without thinking that it was a good moment for a stiff drink. Part of that was Teddy Kennedy and the power of suggestion. Those gin-blossomed jowls have been shaking all over the screen for the past few weeks, their owner bellowing that only John Kerry can rescue the country from ruin and disgrace.
Then there were the reports of terrorists' "chatter" and Attorney-General John Ashcroft's all-points alert for seven swarthy villains from Central Casting, one of them a woman with a degree in neurochemistry and two others said to be trained pilots. Ashcroft's message: If al-Qaeda is preparing another assault, it will likely be soon. That drink? Better make it a double.
Was it just such a bracing jolt that fired up Al Gore? Probably not, unlike Senator Ted, it was the spirit of another kind that last week inspired a spit-flecked tirade against the man who pipped him for the White House in 2000. George Bush is the most crooked president since Nixon, Gore thundered to massive applause, accusing Bush of dragging America's good name through the mud and desecrating the shining legacy of the Founding Fathers.
As America rolls toward its November appointment at the polling booth, it's becoming quite a show. There is only one thing missing: The headliner, John Kerry, who seems barely willing, or is it able, to step full-stride into the spotlight.
Why such a low profile? An incumbent burdened with so many negatives should be a sitting duck. Yet Kerry has left it to his support acts to make the running. Iraq's casualty list, an economy still getting its act together, falling presidential poll numbers, petrol costs, and the imminent prospect of higher interest rates - they should be red meat for any candidate with a hunger for power.
Given the bad news eroding his opponent's numbers, the big question is why the challenger isn't gaining more traction.But Kerry isn't feasting. Yes, he's out there, roaming the country and scoring ink, but not half as many of the bold headlines his surrogates are earning. Given the bad news eroding his opponent's numbers, the big question is why the challenger isn't gaining more traction.
One obvious answer is that he is a genuinely awful campaigner.
Take last week, for example. On the same day that Gore blew his top and led the nightly news broadcasts, Kerry was addressing a rally under Seattle's sodden skies. His presidency wasn't going to be about photo ops, he promised the invitation-only crowd, which had been stripped of its umbrellas to avoid obstructing the cameras and spoiling what was itself nothing more than a photo op. The footage was of Kerry supporters looking cold, wet and miserable in a driving rain.
As for substance, there is precious little of it from the Massachusetts blueblood - and when it comes, it's likely to be bogus. Americans need to give up their gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles, Kerry said recently, assuring his questioner that he doesn't and wouldn't own one. Turns out he has five. His defence: they belong to his family, not him, personally.
And then there is Iraq. America's policies are wrong, says the candidate who, as he put it, "voted for it before voting against it". So, Senator Kerry, you'll be bringing the troops home? Well maybe/maybe not, the answer goes, depending on which way the wind is blowing. It could be yes on Monday, no on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, the answer will hang on Old Europe's willingness to send troops, which France and Germany clearly won't even contemplate.
Even his own candidacy is something of a contradiction. Last week, Kerry's people put it about that their man might delay accepting the nomination until after the convention. Being the non-candidate candidate would allow him to exploit a loophole in US election-finance laws and pump another US$70 million ($A98 million) in matching grants into the war chest. By week's end, however, the idea had been scuttled.
In public, Kerry's handlers point to polls that show him as many as six points ahead. All he needs to do is bide his time and wait for Bush to lose, the strategy goes.
But is it that simple? The same polls, most notably the ABC/Washington Post survey, show Kerry also is losing ground. In March, 59 per cent of voters thought him "honest and trustworthy". By last week, the number was 48 per cent and falling. Same thing with his "leadership quotient", down 9 per cent over the same period. This could be the election determined not by popularity, but according to which contender carries the fewer negatives.
I was on duty in Melbourne May 2002 for a USN ship visit, what a great city. At my hotel, "The Age" came with breakfast. After a week, I was used to eating baked beans and stewed tomatoes with my poached eggs. The paper seemed a little on the liberal side to me, but at the time they were covering big local murder involving the well to do, and the death of a Aussie SF guy in Afghanistan. Your right, the editorial is right on. I'm watching FOX on the satellite and I wonder how anyone could vote for KERRY everytime he gets a sound bite in. The word "doofus" comes to mind. Semper Fidelis from Guam, where America's day begins!!
Good summation of the situation.
Thank you for your service. Great to hear that you at least have the chance to check in here and watch FoxNews.
I hope you'll make sure to vote early so they will have to count your vote and all other military votes.
I thought he characterized Teddy Kennedy pretty well too.
"Part of that was Teddy Kennedy and the power of suggestion. Those gin-blossomed jowls have been shaking all over the screen for the past few weeks, their owner bellowing that only John Kerry can rescue the country from ruin and disgrace. "
One obvious answer is that he is a genuinely awful campaigner.
Oh, lemme see, is it possible that the fact that his 3 purple hearts were awarded in 3 months with no hospital time which is a little questionable, and that he used those purple hearts to get out of Viet Nam ASAP?
Then there's his charming daughters by the rich Boston first wife, and the mega-rich Portugese "I'm African" second wife who only opens her mouth to change feet?
Or maybe it's the fact that only John Kerry could make Al Gore sound interesting. In terms of personality, it would be very depressing to choose between Kerry and Gore. There's no question of choosing between their integrity because they only care about self-promotion.
By the way, has anyone else heard that Kerry has decided to delay accepting the nomination until after the election?
Nobody, who writes about Kennedy, the way this guy does could possibly turn out to be a liberal.
LOL! I love it :)
I got to Guam last summer and voted absentee in VA last November, no problem at all, VA lets you order your ballot online. I'll order mine in September. Mail takes about 10 days from here to the CONUS. I saw an article the other day that KERRY plans to contest VA....let him waste his money there. I was in DC for school in April and stopped by my neighborhood. No KERRY stickers in sight, only BUSH CHENEY!! Semper Fi.
Kerry decided to delay accepting the nomination, before he decided to accept it. Latest is that he is accepting it.
"...and by Wednesday, the answer will hang on Old Europe's willingness to send troops,..."
"Old Europe?"
ROFL! Roger has the kind of tell-it-like-it-is Australian courage that we love, too!
If America votes for this loser in November......... God help us!
Thanks for posting the article. Is there an email address so I can thank Franklin or the editor for running this guy's columns again? He stopped appearing in the Age a couple of months ago and I figured the Age had canned him, so I stopped buying it. If he's back I want to make sure he stays there because he's the only honest Australian reporter in the States and the only reason to buy the Age. Even when his columns get me p****ed off, he's still worth reading.
All the best wishes to you, keep up the great work. :)
Great news!
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