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George W. Bush: Not actually the devil
The Student Life (Pomona College) ^ | 12/22/03 | Peter Douglas

Posted on 12/23/2003 7:50:22 AM PST by NorCoGOP

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- I used to be a big time Bush-basher. I loved the Web sites that made George W. Bush look like a monkey, the books full of garbled speeches and interviews, and the jokes about the President's IQ. I would begin every article I wrote for this newspaper by describing how idiotic, greedy, fascist, and evil the President was and how once again he was going to screw up all of our lives. Lately, however, the pervasive Bush-bashing is beginning to bother me.

It is not that my opinion of the President has changed; it is as low as ever. Nor do I think the President deserves a higher level of respect; we should be able to treat our presidents with the same lack of respect we show everyone else. The problem with Bush bashing is that it is a sign of desperation, a sign that we feel so powerless to stop the country from heading in a direction that many of us feel is terrible that all we can do to make ourselves feel better is call the President stupid. This is a bad sign, because when you start calling people names, it means they have already won.

It seems that much of the country is reserving their most powerful emotions, either love or hate, for George W. Bush. Time magazine has made this their cover story this week and recent polls have shown that the difference between the President's approval rating among Republicans and Democrats is at its highest point ever. This is a problem because intense emotions often make it difficult to think clearly, and a major national election is when it is most important for people to think clearly about their elected leaders.

That is why I am concerned about the upcoming Democratic primaries. There is such a pervasive attitude surrounding the candidates that Democrats need to choose someone who can "beat Bush." In many ways this seems to be all that matters. This phenomenon can be seen most clearly regarding General Wesley Clark. Clark is one of the two candidates with a large following at Pomona (Howard Dean is the other), and yet the only real reason given for supporting him is because he is a General, so Bush will not have an advantage over him on national security. I have heard so many people say "wouldn't it be great to see Bush, the Vietnam War deserter, in a debate against GENERAL Wesley Clark." I do not think it would be great, because I am not convinced Clark would make a good President, and at that point I do not care if he makes Bush look bad. I do not want to pick on Clark, he may yet be a great candidate, but it is just the clearest example of how many Democrats are so focused on Bush's negative aspects that they cannot pay any attention to the positive aspects of the candidates they support.

If Democrats choose a candidate because he or she has the greatest potential to beat Bush, they will be making a mistake for two reasons. First, they will be choosing a candidate based on their fear and hatred, not on hopes for a great presidency. This will basically ensure that if this candidate wins, it will be a bad presidency. If Democrats focus so intensely on getting Bush out of the White House, and then succeed, a "now what?" moment will follow and suddenly our next President will have to scramble for the policies he or she did not develop during the campaign. We will have elected the anti-Bush, and while that may sound good now, it is not a solid foundation for a presidency.

Second, the "Beat Bush" strategy is going to end in defeat. The basic idea behind this strategy is to get votes by showing how Democrats are more qualified on Bush's traditional strong points. The classic example of this is Clark on national security. Yet Democrats tried this very strategy in 2002 and it ended in shameful ruin. Many Democratic candidates in that race decided not to challenge Bush and instead try to present themselves as tough terrorist fighters. This only ended up giving credibility to their Republican counterparts and cost many Democrats their seats in Congress.

By focusing on security and Iraq in this election, instead of domestic issues like job losses, health care, and the environment, all issues for which Bush has a terrible record, Democrats are basically playing into Karl Rove's hands. Bush already has 500 million dollars to spend on ads scaring Americans into thinking terrorists are going to take over the world if he is not re-elected, and there is little Democrats can do to stop that. If, instead, a candidate could convince disillusioned voters that he or she was genuinely dedicated to fixing the nation's decaying social institutions and promoting social justice, they could easily pick up the votes that went to Ralph Nader in 2000. Those votes would have won Al Gore the election. We live in a polarized nation, and for better or worse motivating the poles is the only way to win this election. This won't happen with a "beat Bush at all costs" campaign.

Most likely the main reason Bush bashing is so popular right now is because it is easy. It is sure to get a reaction and you do not have to think about why millions of Americans think Bush is doing a great job, how economic inequality has been growing in this country long before Bush took office, or how pervasive and powerful money has become in both parties. These questions need to be answered, however, before Democrats can offer a serious challenge to not only Bush but the powerful system of moneyed interests that he represents. If the Bush-bashing continues in the place of honest consideration of policies, then the Democrats will not only lose the election, but lose what is left of their integrity as well.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; bushbashing; desperation; nonewideas
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1 posted on 12/23/2003 7:50:23 AM PST by NorCoGOP
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To: NorCoGOP
The problem with Bush bashing is that it is a sign of desperation..

No, the problem with Bush bashing is 100% of the people who do it have yet to bash Al Qaida or Saddam. Like my tagline says..........

2 posted on 12/23/2003 7:55:49 AM PST by metalboy (I`m still waiting for the protests against Al Qaida and Saddam)
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To: NorCoGOP
wouldn't it be great to see Bush, the Vietnam War deserter, in a debate against GENERAL Wesley Clark.

Since when is joining the National Guard equal to "desertion?" This person needs a military history lesson and a lesson of the units in Iraq and Afghanistan right now...

3 posted on 12/23/2003 7:58:59 AM PST by 2banana
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To: NorCoGOP
I love the end of it. If we could just move left "the people" will be with us. Thats how you beat GWB.
4 posted on 12/23/2003 8:04:44 AM PST by sharpink (righting wrongs real or imagined)
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To: NorCoGOP
We live in a polarized nation, and for better or worse motivating the poles is the only way to win this election.

Does Poland have a voice in our elections?

5 posted on 12/23/2003 8:05:34 AM PST by saminfl
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To: NorCoGOP
Democrats ... lose what is left of their integrity as well.

Impossible! They cannot lose what they never had.

6 posted on 12/23/2003 8:06:39 AM PST by Dave Olson
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To: NorCoGOP
>>>>wouldn't it be great to see Bush, the Vietnam War deserter...<<<

Bush was not a deserter-dems just bear false witness.

And what did klinton do?, why, he avoided the draft altogether by leaving the country.

But we're not supposed to talk about the "past" right?

Dems are IMO just useless bags of skin...
7 posted on 12/23/2003 8:07:57 AM PST by Roughneck (". . .For there is going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth. . .")
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To: NorCoGOP
The writer is an ignorant child. Safe in his warm little academic cocoon, he has no idea how the real world works and obviously has no clue what most "real" Americans believe.
8 posted on 12/23/2003 8:10:18 AM PST by RebelBanker (Deo Vindice)
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To: NorCoGOP
What a juvenile view of politics.

Silly little kid.

9 posted on 12/23/2003 8:11:15 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: NorCoGOP
The "now what" moment is a likely result should a Democrat win the Presidency.

I always think back to when Clinton was first elected. HE WAS SURPRISED! And to me, that is stunning.
10 posted on 12/23/2003 8:11:25 AM PST by Pan_Yans Wife (Submitting approval for the CAIR COROLLARY to GODWIN'S LAW.)
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To: NorCoGOP
The thing that one can be most certain of is that young Mr. Douglas, who wrote this drivel, is the scion of the very moneyed interests he bashes: Pomona College is an exclusive, very expensive, elite liberal arts college, most of whose students' parents make incomes in excess of $200,000 per year.

Kid, yer just like your boomer parents who raged against the machine. But, at least we were cheerfully stoned, got laid a lot (pre-aids, post-pill) and eventually grew up to be responsible republicans. The lefty democrat politiicans to day are mostly not the kids who really played at being hippies, but the ones who were, like Clinton, the student government nerds, who went to law school while all the rest of us dropped out, went to real grad school or got jobs. Beware, kid, there's probably a republican life in store for you!

11 posted on 12/23/2003 8:12:09 AM PST by CatoRenasci (Ceterum Censeo [Gallia][Germania][Arabia] Esse Delendam --- Select One or More as needed)
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To: Dave Olson
IMO, they did have it, but it sublimated sometime very shortly after certain events in the vicinity of Dealy Plaza.
12 posted on 12/23/2003 8:12:19 AM PST by Frank_Discussion (May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
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To: NorCoGOP
If, instead, a candidate could convince disillusioned voters that he or she was genuinely dedicated to fixing the nation's decaying social institutions and promoting social justice, they could easily pick up the votes that went to Ralph Nader in 2000.

Still trying to win the last election, I see. And they like to call themselves "progressive".

What's interesting about this article (and the dem strategy generally) is that leftists are slowly figuring out that they have no popular appeal. They're desperately trying to make 2+2 equal 5 and getting frustrated when their "new math" doesn't pan out.

13 posted on 12/23/2003 8:13:44 AM PST by randog (Everything works great 'til the current flows.)
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To: saminfl
Does Poland have a voice in our elections?

Perhaps Howard Dean has a web-site inviting political contributions from Poland.

14 posted on 12/23/2003 8:13:53 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (France delenda est)
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To: NorCoGOP
Bush, the Vietnam War deserter oh really?
15 posted on 12/23/2003 8:14:37 AM PST by SF Republican
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To: 2banana
Since when is joining the National Guard equal to "desertion?

REMEMBER that Democrats operate in WONDERLAND. Words ONLY mean what THEY want them to mean. Truth & Facts are completely irrelevant. Hence X42 did NOT dodge the draft EVEN with PROOF in writing that he did, and GW, a trained fighter pilot in the National Guard is labeled a 'DESERTER'.

16 posted on 12/23/2003 8:15:37 AM PST by PISANO (God Bless our Troops........They will not TIRE - They will not FALTER - They will not FAIL!!!!!)
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To: NorCoGOP
....and promoting social justice,...

Just what, exactly, does that mean to the deep thinker of this article. The term "social justice" is merely blue baiting and nothing more. The majority of these people cannot define simple "justice", let alone the specious term, social justice.

17 posted on 12/23/2003 8:16:10 AM PST by elbucko
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To: 2banana
John Kerry was in the Air National Guard was he not?

The Bush Bashers can continue on...they always seem to follow each other and end up going nowhere just as they are heading down that same road now. Going nowhere. They are pathetic and pitiful and desperate to say the least.

I would say to the author if the dem/libs/Bush bashers had any original or constructive ideas for the American people they would be busier working on those same ideas and not bashing the President hoping it will catch on with others and bring him down. But the reason they are not working on ideas is because folks, ... THEY DON'T HAVE ANY NEW IDEAS...ONLY THE SAME OLD STALE ATTACKS AND THE WORDS "FIGHT FOR YOU."!!! They have nothing. Zilch. All they have is attack, attack, attack and this crowd is just a new batch of faces than from before. New faces...old, stale, musty ideas. They never learn...they are so predictable and disgusting. Losers all. They never have original ideas...look at them...all of them. They are just so "in the past" and so " backed up in time." Just look at hilleree..yipes.

As for a Bush/Clark debate...all GWB would have to do is show up and he'd reveaL Clark for who he really is. A puppet who can't remember from one sentence to the next what he said, who said it, where he heard it, where it was discussed or when it was said and on and on and on. He makes things up and then when questioned he can't remember or makes references to something he "heard." He's terrible. Why do these people lie so much? It's a way of life with them.

As for the author of this article...he is waaaaaay out in left field along with the rest of that ilk.
18 posted on 12/23/2003 8:16:55 AM PST by cubreporter (I trust Rush...he will prevail in spite of the naysayers)
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To: NorCoGOP
then the Democrats will not only lose the election, but lose what is left of their integrity as well.

Uh huh.

19 posted on 12/23/2003 8:18:56 AM PST by Egon (I'll still respect you... I'll respect you even more... Just use more whipped cream...)
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To: CatoRenasci

Environmental Analysis major.
Amateur beard grower.

20 posted on 12/23/2003 8:19:59 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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