Hating and waiting is not winning: Democrats will not see Bush collapse at the polls

Washington Times ^ | Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | Tod Lindberg

[JohnHuang2]

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

---

Hating and waiting is not winning

By Tod Lindberg
Published July 20, 2004

---

Where is the John Edwards surge in the polls for John Kerry? Democrats want to know. What happened? With a choice for veep as brilliant as Mr. Edwards, shouldn't Mr. Kerry have gotten a bigger bump than the small-to-nil effect the announcement actuallyproduced?
    People, people. You've got to get a grip. I realize it's difficult for Democrats to take my advice at face value, since I am not a member of theclub. Butseriously, I've been writing about Democrats (and Republicans, too) as disinterestedly as humanly possible for years now. Give me a chance.
    Let's try to go over a few things as carefully as we can. First of all, you need to understand that Americans do not hate George W. Bush. You may hate George W. Bush, all your friends may hate George W. Bush, all of your friends may have written books about how fitting it is to hate George W. Bush and received handsome advances from their publishers for them. The bookstore shelves groan under them.
    And yes, you are entirely within your rights to hate George W. Bush. No one will take that from you. Yes, Republicans hated Bill Clinton, and many still do. Yes, they also hate Hillary. If, on principle, you want to hate the Republican president just as much as Republicans hated the last Democratic president, no one will stop you.
    But Americans in general do not hate George W. Bush. Moreover, they are not going to hate Mr. Bush. You might just win this election (don't count on it, though, because you might not). But if so, it will not be because Americans have suddenly wised up and realized they should hate Mr. Bush.

[Cobra64]

Damn. You nailed it... again!

As a Rush Limbaugh addict, I'm thinking that you, Levin and Steyn could put together a killer troika; thwarting the democrats. That'd be a sight to behold. I'd bet that Rush would fund the project.

Cheers... Eyes getting tired from this ol' warhorse.

[CyberAnt]

Fortunately .. the dims are too dim to get it!!

[goldstategop]

No great political movement, no party has ever succeeded on negativism and hate. People just don't respond well to that kind of stuff. The Democrats have set their presidential ticket and their party up such that the only way they can prosper is if things go bad for the country. Its not a formula that can sustain a winning party. In the final analysis, the very absence of a positive message has become the message. Its no biggie why the John 2 campaign has stalled. There's nothing about these guys that makes people want to vote FOR them. And with the Democrats stuck in the fevered conspiracy swamps, they're probably under the delusion the American people hate President Bush as much as they do. We'll find out in November just how appealing being obnoxious about America turns out to be.

[no dems]

I went to the link and read the entire article. Excellent.

[Malesherbes]

I never hated Bill Clinton; I despised him.

[sd-joe]

A very good and accurate distinction for many of us.

[tkathy]

The title of this article should have been called "hating and whining" rather than "hating and winning".

I never hated Clinton. I just couldn't stand the sight of him.

[knarf]

TWEEEEET! ....
Here! ....
Over here John ....
In the tenor section.

Thanx.

[ride the whirlwind]

I know, every downturn in Mr. Bush's job-approval rating has brought new hope. But then the number has stopped going down, and sometimes has gone back up. The problem is that you are waiting for something that will not come. Mr. Bush is not going to collapse in the polls, not in the absence of some new (and I emphasize, non-pre-existing) catastrophe or blunder. No, the cumulative weight of the odiousness is not going to finally turn people against him. Forget it.

Let the dems cry in their cornflakes.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I didn't hate Bill Clinton. I hated his wife.

[ken5050]

well stated...FYI..I'm not worried about Nov..W will win..and comfortably..I'm worried abotu AFTER Nov..the dems will try and discredit the election..

[1Old Pro]

Kerry will lose becauase he gives no "positive" reason to vote for him and Blacks will stay home.

[wayoverontheright]

What we are seeing in the Left's constant need to vilify Bush is as much fear as it is hatred, IMHO. Remember, their worldview requires them to see him as DUMB, which means they can't ascribe sinsister motives to all his actions.

The libs are having to survive by obscuring their true beliefs, their true motives, and Bush, through both his words and the RESULTS of his policies, is shining the big flood light on them, exposing them and their ideas as bankrupt, and for this he is both feared and reviled.

[sr4402]

I never hated Bill Clinton; I despised him.

I despised his leacherous, adulterous, false witnessing, lying, low down behavior. I despise what he did to America - now the kids say 'It depends on what the definition of "is" "is"'. May each U.S. Senator that supported Him, share in his legacy and be stuck to him like super glue.