Posted on 01/20/2004 10:41:23 PM PST by JustPiper
The big loser in the Democratic presidential caucuses in Iowa wasn't Howard Dean. It wasn't Dick Gephardt. It wasn't even Al Sharpton who managed to attract about .5 percent of the vote.
The big loser was George W. Bush.
Only one thing can explain the bizarre positions taken by the White House before this week – an overconfidence that President Bush would be facing Howard Dean in his re-election bid this November. Karl Rove's polling must have made the president's political advisers so cocky about the race that they felt invulnerable.
What else could explain the president doing the following:
proposing a politically unpopular amnesty program for illegal aliens;
raising spending on domestic programs by bigger percentages than any of his predecessors, including Democrats;
proposing a vague manned mission to Mars without providing even the least compelling reasons, goals and objectives?
Bush has made many other mistakes in his term, but these whoppers are very recent gaffes made leading up to an election year.
Iowa should provide a wakeup call.
Instead of facing an angry Democrat out of touch with mainstream American values and temperament, Bush may well be facing a seasoned, smooth, mature political pro in John Kerry.
I wonder if he is up to that challenge.
How about a Kerry-Edwards ticket?
I believe if the election took place today, that ticket would have an excellent chance of beating Bush.
I say this as a dispassionate observer, a political analyst. I will not vote for either Bush or Kerry, or any other Democrat seeking the nomination.
But I think it's worth noting we are witnessing the self-destruction of a president – much like his own father self-destructed politically when he broke his "read my lips" pledge.
The latest polls show Bush in a tight race for re-election even before it's clear who his opponent might be.
As a result, Bush finds himself in a statistical dead heat with the opposition nine months before the election. When matched against an unknown Democratic presidential candidate, Bush squeaks out a 48 percent to 46 percent victory. On the question of who is most trusted to handle the nation's major problems, Bush is virtually even with Democrats, ahead 45 percent to 44 percent – down from an 18-point advantage Bush enjoyed nine months ago.
Americans think the Democrats would do a better job on domestic issues – the economy, prescription drugs for the elderly, health insurance, Medicare, the budget deficit, immigration, even taxes.
And why shouldn't they?
Here's the way this presidential race is shaping up: Bush will propose spending $18 billion fighting AIDS in other countries. The Democrat will up the ante to $25 billion.
Bush will propose spending 10 percent more on domestic giveaway programs. The Democrat will up the ante to 20 percent.
If it is conceded that more spending is good, a Republican will lose every single time.
And that's just what Bush has conceded with his phony, so-called "compassionate conservatism," that is really no more than old-fashioned tax-and-spend liberalism.
Bush gained no advantage with the public for his prescription-drug plan. He gained no ground with his bid to legalize millions of illegal aliens. He gained nothing from his attempt at inspiring Americans to join a new space program with a goal of a manned Mars landing. And his domestic spending increases, under attack by his own Republican base, have not served to win new independent or Democrat voters.
In fact, a CBS News poll showed similar drops for Bush support – notably over his plans on immigration.
If Bush were deliberately throwing this election, he couldn't do a more masterful job of losing votes, breaking bonds with his constituency and losing touch with his base.
If ever there was a time for a third party to emerge with some alternative ideas, 2004 is it.
Two most important, IMO.
I may wind up voting for Bush, but will hold my nose when doing so.
Good. Think SCOTUS appointments. A democrat president will set this country to the left for the next 20 years and I think that'll doom us.
The amnesty proposal (and its devastating impact on this country), failure to protect US borders, huge spending, the WMD fiasco, supporting McCain's pet project, the growing deaths of American's in Iraq, etc. will defeat Bush.
Maybe Bush is not interested in winning a second term and would much rather spend the time with Mexico's Fox.
This President doesn't want to think about it...at all!
"Number of people age 16 and over in the nation's labor force as of July 2003. Among the nation's workers are 78.2 million men and 68.4 million women.These men and women represent 66 percent of the adult population. http://www.bls.gov"
Even if your statistic is correct, the percentage of Mexican nationals and Americans is quite closs. If one corrects for illegal aliens being employed but not paying payroll taxes (no social security number), most likely, the percentage of Mexican illegals working would exceed the percentage of Americans.
LOL! Thank you for that! Made my day! :)
It's already happened. Some syndicated columnist - I want to say it was Clarence Page, but my net connection's acting up so I'm not going to go hunting for it; I'm just making this post and then getting away from this computer for the rest of the afternoon - put out an article a day or so ago making precisely that claim. I'll bet there's an FR thread somewhere making fun of it. If not, there ought to be.
You said it! You can share my line of thinking anytime! :-)
That would be on my "to-do" list as well. :-)
However my feeling has always been that he didn't care much either way about taking or losing the office. Even during the 2000 election fiasco, I felt like I was watching Weekend at Bernies. The big guns sweeped in, took care of business, dressed him up and threw him in front of the microphone.
It is very easy to forget he is who he is. He comes across as this plain spoken, down home Christian. The modest ranch when he could easily have a very palatial estate. The marriage to a woman he only dated for 6 months. All very scripted if you ask me. The freepers fall for the whole charade--hook, line and sinker.
Scary, scary stuff to know this could be the beginning of the end.
Off to read if anyone responded. Love your posts--you truly get it. KE
Mighty nice of you, kind sir.
My pleasure.
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