Campaign of hatred won't bring buoyant Bush to book (screeching leftist vitriol benefits Bush)

The Independent, London via the Irish Independent ^ | 12/08/03 | Bruce Anderson

[whereasandsoforth]

But lets say it again and again....President Bush would not have been defeated in 1992 if Ross Perot had not been there to manipulate the election. There would never have been a President Clinton. Why do journalist continually fail to mention this? It is a large factor in history.

[Cosmo]

Probably because this " Perot cost Bush the election" is a dubious fact at best, and anyone who cites it as gospel sounds as if they've been reading talking points instead of studying the issue in detail.

[FairWitness]

But lets say it again and again....President Bush would not have been defeated in 1992 if Ross Perot had not been there to manipulate the election.

Perot's effect, IMHO, was not limited to the number of votes cast for him, but also consisted of his constant criticism of President Bush, and little or no criticism of Clinton.

[dead]

But lets say it again and again....President Bush would not have been defeated in 1992 if Ross Perot had not been there to manipulate the election. There would never have been a President Clinton. Why do journalist continually fail to mention this? It is a large factor in history.

Because Perot didn’t manipulate anything. He ran a legal campaign for office, and received a small but substantial portion of the vote. How is that “manipulation”?

Bush I lost because he broke his promises to conservatives, and the Clinton machine was particularly adept at talking a minor economic downturn into the next great depression.

[whereasandsoforth]

Perot ran a legal operation, I'll admit. It just wasn't honest. That lack of honesty poisoned the well. His goal was not to be president. His goal was to see Clinton become president. That's manipulation pure and simple.

When Ross Perot endorsed Ann Richards for re-election for Texas governor over George W. Bush, all pretense went out the window. Perot is a demosnake and always will be.

[DeFault User]

Though Mr Clinton may have been a liar and an adulterer, he was not a drug dealer or a murderer.

Are you certain, Mr. Anderson?

[cardinal4]

The magnetism of hatred is pulling the Democratic Party away from electability.

Good quote. I just hope its true..

[Consort]

How is that “manipulation”?

He preyed on the gullible. He ran even though he never wanted to be president, as he said many times durng his campaign (didn't he even drop out for a while?). He ran to defeat Bush, who he hated, and for no other reason. He met all his objectives because he manipulated the voters...he knew "It's the voters, stupid." The combination of Perot voters and Clinton Conservatives did the rest of us in.

[sr4402]

Most normal Americans do not want to hate their President and they resent those who try to incite them to do so.

I wish the press could figure this out. We don't like being condesended upon. I've had it with this sactimonious, preachy press.

This weekend, my wife and I went to see an IMAX movie on the Coral Reef and got preached to for over half the movies length on how to save the reef. I came out feeling a bit ill (just as I do after listening to liberal reporters) and I asked myself, why do I pay good money to get preach propaganda, when I want entertainment?

It would be good for the press to think about this for a while.

[dead]

I'm no fan of Perot, but the guy ran a legal campaign with the intention of getting Bush out of office. And he succeeded. That's the way we do things in this country.

Like Nader or Buchanan, I'm sure he really wanted to win, but did not realistically expect to.

I don't believe that we all have to toe the line to the two party system. Perot, Buchanan, Nader, Jon Anderson, Pat Paulson, the Libertarians, the Greens, whatever. As long as they run a legal campaign, I don't really care what their motivations are. They are welcome in the fray.

And as to "preying on the gullible", the gullible are the swing voters that every candidate and party chases with canned slogans and faux-pleasant imagery. I blame the gullible for their own gullibility.

[Paradox]

This piece has some real insight, especially the part about how Americans DON'T WANT to hate the President. I can't tell you how many people I know who didn't like Clinton, but thought the hatred of him was just too much, and thus rallied around him (at the time). Today, those same people kind of cringe when I mention their vote for Clinton back when... This fanning of the flames of hatred is just a bad idea, I thought so back during Clinton, I think so today as well.

I think Dean is going to pull HARD to the center once he gets the nomination. I think that is his plan all along, he is just USING the rabid hatred on the left to get him over that major hump.

[dead]

I was going to go see that IMAX movie! Thanks for the warning. I'll wait for one about space. They can't shoehorn too much propaganda into that yet, though they'll try.

[dead]

I think Dean is going to pull HARD to the center once he gets the nomination. I think that is his plan all along, he is just USING the rabid hatred on the left to get him over that major hump.

The Deaniacs are going to squeal so loudly when that happens! He’ll lose a significant portion of them to Nader, if he’s running again.

Just further illustrating that Dean is the GOP’s dream opponent.

[Consort]

...but the guy ran a legal campaign...he really wanted to win, but did not realistically expect to.

Then was he lying when he said that he did not want to be president? Manipulation can be done legally; it happens every day. Don't be afraid to admit that he manipulated people.

[Paradox]

The Deaniacs are going to squeal so loudly when that happens!

True, but what are those people gonna do, "waste" their vote on Nader (if he even runs?). Like the author says, his support comes from those crazed democrats who this time, aren't going to vote "against" Dean.

Having said that, I think you are right, a Dean candidacy is the "briar patch" the GOP has been dreaming of. Recall how McCain came out looking like a crazed, angry guy during the race for the Republican nomination last time? Well Dean is gonna make that guy look like Ben Stein!

[mewzilla]

Though Mr Clinton may have been a liar and an adulterer, he was not a drug dealer or a murderer.

May have been? Was not?

[Timesink]

I think Dean is going to pull HARD to the center once he gets the nomination. I think that is his plan all along, he is just USING the rabid hatred on the left to get him over that major hump.

He can try that all he wants. He's not going to succeed. In the world of New Media - the internet, talk radio, etc - presidential candidates can't sit back any longer, smugly assured that the "mainstream" news media will cover the campaign only as a horse race, not even remembering what happened the day before yesterday. Everything Dean is saying and doing right now is going to be thrown right back in his face every single day next fall.

[wotan]

Though Mr Clinton may have been a liar and an adulterer, he was not a drug dealer or a murderer.

This should have read "Though Mr Clinton was a liar and an adulterer, he may not have been a drug dealer or a murderer."

Writer got possibility and certainty reversed. Slip of the illiberal wrist.

[wotan]

I wonder what people will think of Perot when the economy crashes and burns with high interest rates, high inflation, high unemployment, and the dollar in the toilet all at the same time. Perot predicted it. Bush II will make it happen.