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Convention, Kerry Help Bush Open Wider 'Stature Gap'
Real Clear Politics ^ | September 7, 2004 | Mort Kondracke

Posted on 09/07/2004 11:01:04 AM PDT by buzzyboop

Is this a wartime election in which America's whole future hangs in the balance, or an ordinary contest over taxes, jobs and health insurance? President Bush probably wins the first. Democrat John Kerry wants the second.

Bush and other key speakers at the Republican convention last week cast the election in historic, even epic, terms. Kerry's first response was about domestic policy and personal pique.

The outcome of the election depends, at least partly, on whether a majority of voters think the whole world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, or whether life and politics can go on more or less as usual.

It also may depend on the public's perception of the candidates' stature, and I thought Kerry did himself no good by responding to Bush's soaring acceptance speech with a low poke at Vice President Dick Cheney's history of draft deferments.

Bush's speech certainly didn't avoid domestic issues. In fact, Bush presented a rather challenging new vision based on expanding individual empowerment rather than traditional government activism.

But the details and delivery of the first, domestic half of the speech were sketchy and prosaic. The second half, concerning the contest between freedom and terror, was passionate and poetic.

"This moment in the life of our country will be remembered," Bush said. "Generations will know if we kept our faith and our word... The freedom of many, and the future security of our nation, now depend on us. And tonight, my fellow Americans, I ask you to stand with me."

Bush is relying on the electorate to trust and follow him in dangerous territory. Republicans also spent considerable time trying to demonstrate that Kerry couldn't be trusted to lead.

Cheney said that "the election of 2004 is one of the most important, not just in our lives, but in our history" and he said charged that "time and again Sen. Kerry has made the wrong call on national security."

"A Senator," Cheney said, "can be wrong for 20 years without consequence to the nation. But a president...always casts the decisive vote. And in a time of challenge, America needs-and had-a president we can count on to get it right."

Similarly, but sulfurously, Democratic Sen. Zell Miller (Ga.) said that "this election will change forever the course of history" and "for more than 20 years, on every one of the issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure."

Miller's citations were a mélange of accurate accounts of Kerry's record-as in his vote against the 1991 Gulf War-as well as exaggerations of his opposition to various weapons systems and outright descents into demagoguery.

Miller portrayed Democrats' legitimate questioning of Bush's Iraq war as making the country weaker and falsely implied that "Democratic leaders" have defamed American soldiers from World War II to the present as "occupiers rather than liberators."

Kerry, instead of responding to Bush's vision of the future, immediately chose to counter-attack against his critics-and went almost as low-road against Cheney as Miller did against him.

"The vice president even called me unfit for office last night," Kerry said. "I guess I'll leave it up to the voters to decide whether five (draft) deferments make someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty" in Vietnam.

Kerry alleged for the upteenth time that Republicans had "attacked my patriotism"-they didn't-and declared "I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who misled the nation into Iraq."

To the extent that the public paid attention to Kerry's midnight speech in Springfield, Ohio, I don't think he helped convince voters that he has stature equal to Bush's. It's a gap that was opening even before the GOP convention and polls undoubtedly will show that it widened there.

The pre-convention Battleground Survey showed Bush favored over Kerry as a "strong leader" by 53 percent to 41 percent, as someone who "says what he believes" by 53per cent to 40 percent and as a "steady and consistent leader" by 54 percent to 40 percent.

Since the Democratic convention, Bush also opened wide leads on "dealing with Iraq," 53-41, and "safeguarding the U.S. from terrorism," 54-37.

Kerry was favored, by 48-42, as the candidate who "cares about people like me," "will lead in the right direction, 50-46, and on issues like creating jobs, 51-40 and strengthening Social Security, 51-37.

Bush obviously was trying to catch up on the domestic side by showing that he does care-and have answers-for workers facing the challenges of multiple lifetime job changes and intense international competition.

He was correct to say that the U.S. tax, health care, pension and worker-training systems are antique, but it remains to be seen whether he can convince voters before the election to support novel reforms like health and personal savings accounts.

Kerry aides say they don't think this is an historic election and polls indicate that domestic issues run about even in voter concerns with Iraq and terrorism. The deciding vote may be cast by events-either the candidates' performance in debate or an attempt by Osama Bin Laden to influence the outcome.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gwb2004; issues; kerry; kondracke; stature

1 posted on 09/07/2004 11:01:05 AM PDT by buzzyboop
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To: buzzyboop

And JfK (the J stands for juvenile) increased the
stature gap this weekend by:
* calling Bush childish names based on the initial "W", and
* hinting that Kerry would like to take a shotgun to the debates


2 posted on 09/07/2004 11:06:54 AM PDT by Boundless
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To: Boundless

"But the details and delivery of the first, domestic half of the speech were sketchy and prosaic."

Maybe this writer missed the part where the president said to 'visit www.georgewbush.com' for the details.


3 posted on 09/07/2004 11:09:20 AM PDT by Bigh4u2
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To: buzzyboop
"Is this guy questioning my patriotism?" -- John Fraud Kerry
4 posted on 09/07/2004 11:13:27 AM PDT by frog_jerk_2004
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To: Boundless
And JfK (the J stands for juvenile)

Even better... the F stands for Flipper
5 posted on 09/07/2004 11:13:34 AM PDT by zencycler
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To: Bigh4u2

Freep the MSNBC Poll! Bush is lagging by 8 points.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5834313/


6 posted on 09/07/2004 11:14:17 AM PDT by Leonora
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To: buzzyboop
Miller portrayed Democrats' legitimate questioning of Bush's Iraq war as making the country weaker and falsely implied that "Democratic leaders" have defamed American soldiers from World War II to the present as "occupiers rather than liberators."

No, Senator Miller specifically said that Democratic leaders during WWII acknowledged that US forces were liberators and that they seem not to believe that about US troops in Iraq.

The Democrats did not defame our troops 60 years ago, but they did defame them in Vietnam and they defame them now.

7 posted on 09/07/2004 11:15:19 AM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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To: Leonora

Actally Bush is lagging by 6 points. Sorry.
Still, freep the poll!


8 posted on 09/07/2004 11:15:23 AM PDT by Leonora
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To: buzzyboop
When Carville told Kerry he needed to select a VP who had gravitas, Kerry, who doesn't understand the cajun dialect of French, thought Carville said get a VP with a grab-it-ass, and well the rest is history.
9 posted on 09/07/2004 11:19:42 AM PDT by bayourod (You're either for President Bush or against him. There is no "but...")
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To: Boundless
It's about judgment. Kerry has no executive skills, as witnessed by his inability to even run a campaign.
10 posted on 09/07/2004 11:22:36 AM PDT by GoLightly
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To: Leonora
Actally Bush is lagging by 6 points. Sorry. Still, freep the poll!

All I see are the current results. I have not voted in that poll. Media manipulation??????????

11 posted on 09/07/2004 11:28:03 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (kerry wants to rely on 4 months in Nam, not almost 20 yrs AWOL in the Senate.)
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To: buzzyboop

The Dems are childish as well. I went to the Orange County Street fair in CA over the weekend with my wife and they had a stand for Kerry and a stand for Bush in the same area. People were givin buttons or stickers to put on their shirts. I put a 'Viva Bush' sticker on my shirt. Overall it was about even. The funny thing was the libs, one lady that walked by me said "Impeach Bush", another guy walked by and said, "Democrats" he sounded like a zombie, hehe. I just smiled at their remarks, how childish, grow up dems!!!


12 posted on 09/07/2004 11:46:52 AM PDT by AlexPKeaton04 (Moore and Kerry Please move to France)
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