Posted on 10/09/2004 8:02:36 AM PDT by crushkerry
My wife is the best political analyst I know. Why? Because she’s almost totally apolitical. She comes from an extremely liberal Democrat family (her folks were Clinton county chairs in New Hampshire), but inherited none of her progenitors’ passions. She was also raised as a traditional Catholic, and has only become more so as she has grown. She’s a licensed social worker and child therapist. She served in the Peace Corps. This is not some naïve dimwit we’re talking about here. But still, political matters only carry her attention for so long before she rolls her eyes and changes the channel.
The result of her eclectic influences is a strange brew of economic liberalism and hardcore social conservatism. Think of a libertarian. Then think of his exact opposite on just about every issue and you’ve got my wife. (But no, my wife is not a fascist!)
Okay, so last night I found her yelling back at the television during the debate (heretofore only something fetishists and junkies like I did, or my father when he was visiting … oh boy, does the TV get a tongue-lashing when my father is in town.) “We already know what you think,” she snapped. “I’m getting sick of this guy’s repetition.” “This guy looks really tired.” “ugh!”
She was, thank God, talking about America’s Most Liberal Senator, John Kerry. Hers was a helpful analysis because, as a political professional, I think in talking points. With every comment John Kerry made, I was jotting down a mental rebuttal, what I would say if I were president? All wrapped up in the moment, I sometimes forget these dog-and-pony shows are about perceptions. Who appears strong? Who appears weak? Who’s stupid? Who’s tired? Who’s aloof?
SHE BROUGHT ME to and helpfully reminded me that President Bush looked “aggressive” and “strong” while John Kerry looked “tired” and “condescending.” (She was also creeped out, by the way, when John Kerry’s mouth ran dry and he repeatedly licked his lips with a white, chafed tongue. She pointed out President Bush’s weird side-to-side jaw thingy, too. But she wasn’t bothered by it.)
My wife also got a genuine kick out of watching President Bush when John Kerry was talking. (It’s always bad if voters are watching the other guy just sit there while you have center stage.) President Bush, famously fraternal, was winking at folks, occasionally having little side conversations with people, shooting them with his finger. Bush was more comfortable just sittin’ and BS’n with the folks than exchanging bullet points with Captain Blab-Blab. My wife noticed and though it was cute.
BEAR IN MIND, my wife is not the typical, off-the-shelf swing voter. This is a woman who thinks abortion is murder. Prayer in school? Absolutely. Ten Commandment posted on every street corner? That’ll probably help curb crime. But at the same time, she wants more money for every government program under the sun. And recoils when told President Bush isn’t funding things like No Child Left Behind and AIDS relief in Africa (a horror she has witnessed firsthand.) Moreover, she lives in Maryland, which will very likely go for John Kerry in a walk.
But her insight is nonetheless invaluable, because she didn’t score the debate with a notepad and a checklist, the way we hobbyists do. She gets a feeling about the candidates. And she felt President Bush did great. And she was annoyed by John Kerry.
This has started to become a trend for her. She watched both the Bushes’ and the Kerrys’ respective visits with Dr. Phil, the pop-head shrinker (who seems a bit touched himself, if you ask me.) And she came away with a tremendously warm feeling toward the Bushes whom she said shared a genuine friendship, not just a wedded tolerance. The Kerrys? Or rather, the Heinz Kerry’s? Not so lovey dovey, she tells me. Almost as though an invisible glass partition was erected between them.
WHEN GUYS LIKE SEAN HANNITY and Rush Limbaugh do their impressions of John Kerry, they exaggerate his pompous bass (or is it baritone? I don’t know), always beginning each sentence with I … I … I. So when my wife did her own impression of Kerry in much the same fashion, intentionally deepening her voice and using stiff movements to mock him, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud with glee.
“I get sick of hearing him say ‘I have a plan,’” she said. Then she goes into full John Kerry mode, “‘I have a plan for this … I have a plan for that …’” That’s so empty. It doesn’t mean anything. What is your plan and why didn’t you do any of this stuff in the US Senate over the last twenty years?” John Kerry is lucky he didn’t debate my wife.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. My own mini-focus group of one. Bush cleaned his clock, at least according to one undecided, female, Catholic, social worker in Maryland who happens to be married to a professional Republican political hack. Mr. President, you have that demo locked up, my friend.
Well, sort of...
Hugh Hewitt had "plan" as a trigger word for his recurring "debate drinking game".
So you'd be obliged to drink a shot each time the word was used.
Hope nobody playing had to drive afterword!
Loved reading this. Thank you. I think her observations are great.
I decided I wasn't going to watch the debates, just read the transcript. But I had to run an errand last night, and caught a touch of the debate on the radio.
Yes, it was the fabulous John Kerry. (As in full of fables) I turned him off in a hurry, after listening to one sentence.
Even if I hadn't known who he was, I wouldn't have liked him. He sounded SO condescending, as if talking down to the serfs. He remimded me of several elitist college professors I had had when in school, the kind everyone hated because they just knew everything and droned on and on and on.....
Someone has done a series of photos of Kerry sticking his tongue out here on FR. I had not noticed him doing this until I saw the series. Probably because I watch him as little as possible. LOL Now it is ALL I see when I watch him.
"I have a plan" - DRINK!!
I think the chief point of disagreement between your wife and me is that I don't think the government is best qualified to do charitable work and help people who need help. It's tremendously wasteful, bureaucratic, and riddled with corruption.
Some things do need to be done by the government. But we have resigned an awful lot of charitable work to the bureaucrats that would be far better done by someone else.
For instance, even Catholic hospitals have problems with bureaucracy and corruption, but on the whole they deliver care more efficiently and caringly than municipal hospitals. That's true right down the line. Catholic schools have been a pretty mixed bag for the past 40 years, but they still work better than public schools. Ask the inner-city black kids with vouchers.
If I didn't have to put so much money into federal taxes, most of it wasted, I could give more to charity. My charities would be mostly Catholic, but there are plenty of other good charities out there. For instance, the Salvation Army, which does a far better job than the Red Cross, not to mention FEMA.
There's nothing wrong with being compassionate, but we should give more thought whether the federal government is always the best person to do the job.
Intersting insight by your wife. John Kerry can't be who he is or he'll make the Mondale/Reagan 84 race look competitive. BTW a libertarian isn't a economic liberal(socialist) and a social conservative. They are the exact opposite. I'm more of a Neal Boortz type of libertarian myself.
But according to reports, Kerry won!!!
As a woman who has voted for both Republicans and for Democrats (definitely going for Bush this time though), what I see in John Kerry's relationships with women is that they are exploitative. His relationships with both of his wives demonstrate that he USES women. To a lot of women this man comes off as an extremely shallow, emotionally cold, human being. Also, last night Kerry said he was a Catholic. If so, why were he and Teresa married in a civil ceremony? He probably did that b/c at the time his annullment had not come through, but, still, it does not show him to be deeply and spiritually committed to this woman.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1223776/posts
The Kerry Tongue flick.... serpentine!
It seemed to me that "Catholic" was just a buzz word that Kerry had to insert. Just like "Hallibuton".
I think he's trying to not show the sheer disgust he feels toward Kerry.
I just lost my lunch.
I sort of agree with you. The forty-year war on poverty simply hasn't worked. We need to try something new. Then again ... I feel for (and have known many) people who suffer due to no fault of their own. Would happily help contribute to make their life a little more livable.
"I have a plan" or in Edwards case "We have a plan". A popular phrase for those two. Sooner or later they may even tell us what this plan is.
My wife is also really sick of Kerry saying
“‘I have a plan for this … I have a plan for that …’”
It seems that we should find a way to take advantage of this Kerryism and make it into a mantra for all of us anti-Kerry fans.
Note to Bush team....good line!
Excellent post. Great analysis. Thank you.
I particularly enjoyed your comparison of your thoughts ("talking points") and your wife's more intuitive, perhaps visceral reactions and I think that this is significant.
The immediate, post-debate public reaction may more likely be based on the talking points aspect. The reactions of people are not fully digested and thought out. Rhetoric and sophistry have an effect. Kerry doesn't do as badly.
However, the longer term effects are those you describe. Kerry does not wear well. He is irritating and condescending. You have described it well. These effects will take longer to manifest.
I believe that the effect of this debate will not be a "bump" for Bush, but rather an erosion of Kerry support. If he has already "worn thin", even with Democrats, then in the third debate he will be starting with a handicap.
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