Posted on 06/17/2004 1:10:24 PM PDT by KOZ.
The reasons being given why George W. Bush will not be reelected are the very reasons he will be reelected – and by an impressive margin. This is because his opponents have grossly failed to judge the nature of America and the character of the man, himself – the same way and for the same reasons Ronald Reagan’s opponents grossly misjudged him and the nature of America during his presidency.
It’s no accident that many of those now maligning Bush are of the same crowd in the news media who maligned Reagan. They are still making the same self-defeating mistake of actually believing what they see in the mirrors of distortion they are holding up to America. They didn’t understand America then; they don’t understand America now.
Here are the principal distortions that condescending leftists are instructing American voters will cause them to defeat Bush in November –and why just the opposite is the case.
Distortion: The country is divided, and it’s all Bush’s fault. Correction: America has never been entirely of one mind, but it is certainly less divided now than during or right after the Vietnam War.
The reality is that America is of three minds, not two. There are the far left and the far right (both distinct minorities) and there is a non-stationary middle, occupied by the huge majority of Americans. Increasingly, this great middle has been redefining toward the conservative side.
Bush did not cause that, but is facilitating the shift. The leftists, more and more irresponsibly out of touch with the middle, are the ones accelerating it. America is now a nation more conservative than not, growing ever more united in that direction, not more divided.
How Bush benefits: By identifying with, and leading, this political realignment, Bush gains every step along the way.
Distortion: The economy is in the dumpster, and it’s all Bush’s fault. Correction: No. The economy was shrinking dangerously in the early months of the Bush administration, but no longer. Every economic indicator since January 2004 is on a dramatic upswing.
And no. The “Bush recession” was in truth caused by events in the administration of Bill Clinton and was well along its downward way when Bush took office. Were it not for Bush’s tax cuts, that Clinton recession would have descended right into a Bush depression.
How Bush benefits: The welcome impact of the authentic Bush recovery is just now being realized in Americans’ daily lives. The more the leftists harp on the economy, the more that will help Bush in November.
Distortion: Bush is bullheaded, and won’t take advice from his betters. Correction: Those know-it-alls are the failed practitioners and surly apologists of the Clinton era. The news media call them in to testify at every turn of events, and the more they carp the more obvious become their motivations and their ineffectiveness.
Americans are beginning to realize that what critics call Bush’s bullheadedness is in truth a resolute steadfastness of principles.
How Bush benefits: In a world where unfamiliar uncertainty and unprecedented danger lurk, Americans welcome surety of principle and purpose in the presidency. The temptation to change horses in the middle of such a stream has less and less appeal.
Distortion: Bush is politically incorrect, out of step with most Americans. Correction: The opposite is true. The leftists are indulging in self-sycophancy if they think they represent mainstream America.
How Bush benefits: He has the proper posture for reelection in today’s America – one foot planted firmly in the unshakable, traditional conservative base and the other comfortably far enough into the mostly conservative middle. Neither footing alone is sufficient to win an election; taken together, they constitute an astonishing new majority.
Distortion: Bush is a reckless cowboy, who has put America in greater peril. Correction: If that is so, then for the same reasons so were Ronald Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Each was scolded in his time that he was leading America to ruin. Had they lacked the courage to take the risks they took, America would be in ruins today. Bush has demonstrated such courage.
How Bush benefits: Americans are now beginning to see Bush in the true light of historic reality, thanks to the conjunction of three colossal events – the birthing of a free Iraq rising out of the Bush-led war of liberation, the 60th commemoration of D-Day launching the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny and the “surprising” outpouring of national affection and respect in remembrance of Ronald Reagan as the kind of president America admires.
Distortion: The Iraq war is a disaster, not worth the cost of undertaking or seeing through to the end. Correction: Not even the press can keep hidden the truth that the liberation of Iraq is one of the noblest acts ever undertaken by any nation in the advancement of human freedom.
How Bush benefits: It is going to be political immolation for the Democratic presidential candidate if he tries to tell American families their sacrifices in Iraq are worthless. It’s one thing for John Kerry scornfully to throw away his own medals from the Vietnam War, something else to trash those earned by American troops in Iraq.
Distortion: Bush insists on going it alone, alienating other nations. Correction: He did not go it alone – except for feckless France, ungrateful Germany and devious Russia. Now that Bush has done the hard work in Iraq, he has a unanimous Security Council – France, Germany and Russia unwilling to “go it alone.” And he will likely have NATO with him in short order.
How Bush benefits: Beyond that, there’s a swelling good-for-Bush feeling in America even if he were to go it alone. Lincoln didn’t beg Europe’s permission. FDR got the approval of only Congress, as did Bush. Reagan went entirely alone to the Berlin Wall and never said, “Mr. Gorbachev, if it’s all right with you, please tear down this wall.” Kerry will have tough sledding advocating groveling.
Distortion: Bush isn’t qualified intellectually, simply not up to the job. Correction: That was easy to say four years ago, impossible to peddle now. America and the world have seen the stuff of which Bush is made.
How Bush benefits: Here again is the parallel with Reagan, who it is now clear knew exactly what he was doing while just about everyone else was dithering.
Kerry is the one who has the unassailable record of flipping and flopping, triple-tonguing an uncertain trumpet, groping around for a running mate agile enough to hop on first one foot and then the other keeping up with Kerry from moment to moment.
So waste no time listening to leftist politicians and news-media mind-minders who complain about this and grump about that when characterizing Bush. Of course they don’t like him, for all the reasons they give.
It’s precisely because of those reasons that, to their doom and gloom, George W. Bush is going to win reelection – and win big.
That’s the kind of America that America really is.
55% / 45% and 38 states. I call a landslide.
Bookmark.
Hoping he is right also.
He says:
"...The reality is that America is of three minds, not two.
There are the far left and the far right (both distinct minorities)
and there is a non-stationary middle,
occupied by the huge majority of Americans..."
- - -
I don't see it that way at all.
I see:
a huge un-moveable left,
a huge un-moveable right,
and a teeny tiny middle
that is composed of a bunch of really stupid people
otherwise they would have made up their minds already and chosen sides.
I think you pegged it just about right. It will not be close. I can't wait to pull up a chair and watch Peter/Tom/Dan/Chris/CNN sputter and fume and spin as they try to speculate as to why the American people are so dumb/uninformed/uncaring as to reject the liberal Dem candidate.
BTTT
It's even worse because it's not just the middle that is stupid, it's the left as well. We are a minority that has to depend on stupid people in the middle who can't form their own opinions.
BTTT and I'll be sipping an adult beverage watching the saps on election night too.....
Fuel!
I hope he's right too, but fear the "landslide" will go the other way.
He is. But the Democrats will haul millions - literally millions - of felons and wetbacks to the polls to try to steal this election. They will also steal the votes of hundreds of thousands of people in nursing homes.
THAT is why illegal immigration is bad bad bad and dangerous.
"I see:
a huge un-moveable left,
a huge un-moveable right,
and a teeny tiny middle
that is composed of a bunch of really stupid people
otherwise they would have made up their minds already and chosen sides."
I agree!
i don't think it's even going to be close.
no one's going to turn the country over to kerry. he projects an arrogant image.
I love your sunny posts. They inspire, they uplift, they compel us all to bigger and better efforts to reelect President Bush....;)
Don't forget the biggest voting block in NY and Chicago, dead people. My dad voted straight republican till the day he died, since then he's been voting straight dem.
Excellent!
I think, given a chance, Dubya can do that very same thing. He's a plain spoken sorta guy and that's why the media can't understand him, nor his popular appeal.
I hope the author is right. Bush is not Reagan, but he does have a certain popular appeal and I'm hoping for the best in November.
56% of the vote and 46 States is what I predict, and yes.... Bush will win California
Yes, stupid people in the middle but I see:
30% true die-hard Liberals and Democrats
40% true die-hard Conservatives and Republicans
10% with their heads in the sand but will vote anyway
(people whose parents have always been RATs)
20% Independents and swing voters (5% of whom will vote for Nader)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.