Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Name Five
Can Bush supporters give us just Five Good Reasons why they are going to vote, not against Kerry, but for Bush?
[Politics]
In blogging about the presidential campaign, it’s undoubtedly fun to bash the other guy, but ultimately on November 2 we’re going to be voting for someone. A major story line in this campaign has been that many Kerry supporters don’t like their candidate that much, but it’s "anybody but Bush." As a "man in the street" interviewee put it in a clip on The Daily Show, "I’d take a ham sandwich rather than Bush."
Perhaps ironically, then, there is an incredible amount of Kerry-hating vitriol out there in blog world among apparent Bush supporters, but almost nothing positive about Bush, or more to the point, the Bush administration. Typically, an incumbent can point to his record in a re-election campaign, where the challenger asks us to speculate about what his future presidency would be like. Do you see a word anywhere in cyberspace about how well the Bush administration has governed over the past four years? A word?
The irony begins with the candidates own web sites. Check them out. On Kerry’s website you see a bunch of Kerry material. On the first screen, there’s a big picture of Kerry, links to his policy positions. It’s all Kerry, Kerry, Kerry – kind of self-centered, huh? Bush is mentioned once in text, and in the lower right hand corner there’s a small picture showing Bush with a link to a negative ad. When you scroll down to the bottom, it’s more stuff about Kerry, with just one other small segment on "Bush-Cheney: Wrong for America." The content seems to be 10% or less about Bush, the rest about Kerry.
Now go to Bush’s web site. You’d expect to find a lot of Bush content here, right? Sure enough, around the margins, in tiny type, are links and tabs for Bush policies. But the banner headline reads: "Kerry’s Debate Briefing Book Revealed." Then another big block devoted to "John Kerry: the Raw Deal." The headline section seems to give Kerry equal time, with every Bush story matched by a Kerry story: "Pres clear on plan for our safety" followed by "Kerry’s Shifting Positions on Saddam." Scrolling down you find "John Kerry’s Flip Flop Olympics" and another box with a video link to a negative Kerry ad. It’s all Kerry, Kerry, Kerry! Weird, huh?
You can say I’ve done my share of Bush-bashing on this blog, so I’m just like the Kerry-haters. But you’d be wrong. I don’t hate George W. Bush. What I hate is the way his administration has governed this country. What I’d like to know is whether all the Kerry-haters are actually opposed to the policies that would result if a Democratic administration fronted by Kerry were voted in.
In a series of future posts, I’m going to look at this country’s marked tendency to focus obsessively on "the man" running for President and ignore the administration that will actually govern us if we put this man in the White House.
But for now, I issue this challenge to all the Kerry-hating bloggers out there.
Give us 10 good reasons why you would vote for Bush without mentioning Kerry. After all, you may think you’re voting against Kerry, but I guarantee you, the Bush people will simply assume you approve of the way his administration has governed the country the past four years. And don't give us a bunch of fuzzy BS about Bush's character or how you feel about him. Name 10 policies that a Bush administration will bring that you believe will be good for the country. In fact, you can count policies from his first 3+ years in office: you know, USA PATRIOT Act, Invasion of Iraq, tax cuts, oil-drilling in Alaska, whatever. In fact, name FIVE.
[Politics]
In blogging about the presidential campaign, it’s undoubtedly fun to bash the other guy, but ultimately on November 2 we’re going to be voting for someone. A major story line in this campaign has been that many Kerry supporters don’t like their candidate that much, but it’s "anybody but Bush." As a "man in the street" interviewee put it in a clip on The Daily Show, "I’d take a ham sandwich rather than Bush."
Perhaps ironically, then, there is an incredible amount of Kerry-hating vitriol out there in blog world among apparent Bush supporters, but almost nothing positive about Bush, or more to the point, the Bush administration. Typically, an incumbent can point to his record in a re-election campaign, where the challenger asks us to speculate about what his future presidency would be like. Do you see a word anywhere in cyberspace about how well the Bush administration has governed over the past four years? A word?
The irony begins with the candidates own web sites. Check them out. On Kerry’s website you see a bunch of Kerry material. On the first screen, there’s a big picture of Kerry, links to his policy positions. It’s all Kerry, Kerry, Kerry – kind of self-centered, huh? Bush is mentioned once in text, and in the lower right hand corner there’s a small picture showing Bush with a link to a negative ad. When you scroll down to the bottom, it’s more stuff about Kerry, with just one other small segment on "Bush-Cheney: Wrong for America." The content seems to be 10% or less about Bush, the rest about Kerry.
Now go to Bush’s web site. You’d expect to find a lot of Bush content here, right? Sure enough, around the margins, in tiny type, are links and tabs for Bush policies. But the banner headline reads: "Kerry’s Debate Briefing Book Revealed." Then another big block devoted to "John Kerry: the Raw Deal." The headline section seems to give Kerry equal time, with every Bush story matched by a Kerry story: "Pres clear on plan for our safety" followed by "Kerry’s Shifting Positions on Saddam." Scrolling down you find "John Kerry’s Flip Flop Olympics" and another box with a video link to a negative Kerry ad. It’s all Kerry, Kerry, Kerry! Weird, huh?
You can say I’ve done my share of Bush-bashing on this blog, so I’m just like the Kerry-haters. But you’d be wrong. I don’t hate George W. Bush. What I hate is the way his administration has governed this country. What I’d like to know is whether all the Kerry-haters are actually opposed to the policies that would result if a Democratic administration fronted by Kerry were voted in.
In a series of future posts, I’m going to look at this country’s marked tendency to focus obsessively on "the man" running for President and ignore the administration that will actually govern us if we put this man in the White House.
But for now, I issue this challenge to all the Kerry-hating bloggers out there.
Give us 10 good reasons why you would vote for Bush without mentioning Kerry. After all, you may think you’re voting against Kerry, but I guarantee you, the Bush people will simply assume you approve of the way his administration has governed the country the past four years. And don't give us a bunch of fuzzy BS about Bush's character or how you feel about him. Name 10 policies that a Bush administration will bring that you believe will be good for the country. In fact, you can count policies from his first 3+ years in office: you know, USA PATRIOT Act, Invasion of Iraq, tax cuts, oil-drilling in Alaska, whatever. In fact, name FIVE.
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