Bush on offensive as Kerry stumbles

Washington Times ^ | 3/18/04 | Bill Sammon

[ezo4]

:o)

[woodyinscc]

Hillary is a far worse lightning rod, than Nixon ever was. :-)

The rats set out to get him, his first day in office. It was worse then what the dims are trying to do with President Bush right now. Except for his price supports, he was doing a heck of a job. His true paranoia, wound up giving the dims the ammunition they needed.

[Fledermaus]

His failures were beyond price supports. Didn't he create the EPA? Made a few departments cabinet level like education? Create the Dept. of Energy?

[SAMWolf]

LOL! And getting more insufferable by the minute. The election is still 8 months away and I'm sick of hearing and seeing him already.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Shock and Awe by Bush-Chenney.

I think President Bush has been misunderestimated again.......lol.

[My2Cents]

STRATEGERY!

[dpwiener]

They brilliantly waited, until Kerry had ALL of the delegates he needs to make him the OFFICIAL Dem presidential candidate.

The Bush campaign has been faced with the delicate task of not destroying the likely Democratic nominee too soon. Dean would have been the weakest opponent, but he self-destructed (with some help from conservative voices who picked apart his contradictions). Clark would have been another weak opponent, but he self-destructed before he ever really got going (again with help from conservative pundits and talk show hosts). Edwards, even with his lack of experience, was shaping up as a very dangerous opponent for Bush. So the Bush campaign avoided heavy attacks on Kerry until Kerry had locked up the nomination.

It's still a bit of a balancing act. Kerry enjoyed a brief surge in the polls which temporarily put him ahead of Bush. Now the Bush/Cheney counterattacks and the Bush TV advertising is reversing that. Kerry wasn't tested under fire very heavily in the primaries, and he could wilt very fast. He's already shown a tendency to make major blunders.

If Kerry begins to plunge in the polls, the Democrats could get desperate and try to find a replacement candidate. The Democratic Party can still find ways to torpedo Kerry and force him to withdraw if his chances look hopeless (even though he officially has enough committed delegates to win). After all, "electibility" is the be-all and end-all this year.

So the Bush campaign has to hurt Kerry but not totally decapitate Kerry before the August convention. It will be interesting to observe whether that balance is possible.

[HolgerDansk]

I was inspired by the line: "John Kerry, International Man of Mystery"...

[texasflower]

rapid-response strategy that prizes speed and overwhelming force

It sounds like the Pentagon devised this strategy!

Well now. I hope the enormous chorus of "Karl Rove needs to be replaced, the Bush camp doesn't know what they are doing, etc" feel better now.

As for me, I trusted them before and I trust them now.

[texasflower]

And doesn't it feel good to witness return fire?

We will be witnessing political "shock and awe" in the next few months.

[kattracks]

Nice. Trick gun there. When the trigger is pulled a little flag pops out that says BANG.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

It's beginning to look as if making Kerry look like an arrogant, bumbling, traitorous fool is far too easy. I'm concerned that if we ridicule him too much and too effectively before Election Day, the 'Rats will dip into their hate cauldron and pull out a more appealing candidate.

[Deb]

Richard Cheney and Colin Powell were everywhere today, not to mention Richard Perle, who did a fantastic job defending the Bush Iraq strategy. He kicked the stuffing out of Chris Matthews, Ted Koppel and Richard Holbrooke.

The Bushies are on a roll.

[texasflower]

And doesn't it feel good to witness return fire?

We will be witnessing political "shock and awe" in the next few months.

[onyx]

POWER TO THE RNC! RIGHT ON! And ABOUT TIME!

[Texasforever]

Boring night huh? By the end of that all I could feel was pity for him

[onyx]

Yeah. I am glad I went.
I'll keep my word.
I'll not post bad about them first.
Nice treatment by most.
I have no complaints.

[Texasforever]

I agree.

[onyx]

I've always been somewhat sorry that many of the ones I knew from here are banned. I realize Jim extended chance after chance --- but still, I'd like to see some of them given yet another chance. Oh well.

[CyberAnt]

BTTT