Posted on 09/28/2004 12:58:01 PM PDT by NewMediaFan
It would be nice to think that we live in a world where substance is more important than style. Sadly, we don't.
Image counts for almost everything, especially in the United States. That is a big problem for John Kerry.
Senator Kerry, a former soldier who saved the lives of comrades in Vietnam, is trying to beat George Bush in the race to the White House, yet he will go into the first TV debate this week looking like, well, as Arnold Schwarzenegger might say, a "girlie-man".
It is his own fault. Any image-maker could have told Senator Kerry that a man who wants to be president must be presidential in gait, manner and style. Senator Kerry has instead allowed himself to be photographed in bicycle shorts - tight ones. He recently went windsurfing while wearing flowered Spandex shorts.
Worse, Senator Kerry is French-speaking and rides a motorcycle while wearing a tie.
And he has a wife who is older and richer than he is, and who only grudgingly bears his name.
Senator Kerry will have to face Mr Bush, who plays the swaggering, manly cowboy better than most Hollywood actors, in a televised debate on Friday morning, Australian time.
This is no small matter: according to Fox News, 75 per cent of swinging voters say the televised debates help them make up their minds.
In times of war, it makes sense that voters are looking for a strong leader, and one who is decisive. Senator Kerry is not often that, which is why Bush supporters gleefully grabbed footage of him windsurfing (in his flowered shorts) and turned it into a TV commercial.
Many people are angry about these attacks, among them the feminist Naomi Wolf, who complained...
(Excerpt) Read more at smh.com.au ...
He's losing BECAUSE of his substance.
"75 per cent of swinging voters "
Swinging voters??
Whoa! Here's a demographic I didn't see coming.
Substance more than style? Give me a break. What substance?
Saved the lives of his comrades in Vietnam? What? Which ones?
Aaww, Austraian Socialists are heart-broken.
Thank you for ending your excerpt where you did.
Hmmm... maybe these undecideds are just too busy to have already made up their minds.
That reminds me: Who is going to capture the swingers' vote?
He's orange, and I'd say that indeed is a problem...
If you are socialist, you won't ever be able to come to that conclusion!
Great minds think alike. :-)
"Kerry, who saved the lives of comrades in Vietnam"
Ya gotta wonder if the SMH thought it was being cute to use the term 'comrades'. Even though Kerry was a traitor the statement is still true.
From the Aussies.
Semper Fi
MY HERO'S HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS
Thank gGod for Reagan & Bush
PS i hat Willie Nelson
Surely she's not trying to imply that Kerry has any substance.
Unless "substance" is Autralian for B*llsh*t.
Which couple do you think would be most popular with swingers -- the current first couple or Lurch and Mama T? There's your answer!
The big problem for John Kerry is that the image reflects his substance. The same is true for Bush. Therefore, what you see is what you get and we see a leader in Bush that we don't see in Kerry. The only way people can not see this is if they've been confusing flashbacks with reality again.
Shalom.
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