Keep On Spinning

Have you written a letter to the editor yet? If not, there’s some pointers here. Here’s the letter I’ve sent :

As Senator John Kerry said during Thursday night’s debate, “the president just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important”. What Bush revealed was something that should concern Americans on both sides of the aisle.

When subjected to some relatively mild rebuking from Sen. Kerry, the President displayed the sort of petulance you’d expect from a small child being dragged to church, not the leader of the free world. If this is how he reacts under pressure in public, I can’t imagine what he’s like in private.

Is the man we glimpsed on Thursday evening the same one who’s been entrusted to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear program? Or to handle trade deals with our G8 partners? Or negotiate a peaceful settlement to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis? Or build a coalition to fight the global terror threat?

Unlike my fellow Democrats, I find very little worth celebrating. Sure, when it comes to the horserace, I revel in the fact that undecided voters are finally getting to know the John Kerry partisans have been raving about for a while, but as an American who wants to see the ship of state steered in the right direction, Thursday night’s spectacle scares the hell out of me.

There’s a lot of celebration going on right now (for a damn good reason), but we’re still a month away from the only poll that matters. Don’t forget that there are still three more debates, so there’s more than enough time and opportunity for Bush to turn this thing around.


posted by greg on October 2, 2004 @ 5:26 pm

6 comments

  1. Reuters – Oct 01, 2004 – The Massachusetts senator declined to claim victory himself even though supporters in Tampa greeted him with chants of “You won!” and quick polls by television networks right after the debate showed more Americans gave him the edge.

    “Oh, no, no, no,” Kerry said. “Let me make it clear to everybody. We have to win every day from now until Nov. 2.”

    Comment by The Donkey — October 2, 2004 @ 11:41 pm

  2. President Bush may have a history of winning debates, but Senator Kerry has a history of winning elections. Better yet, Kerry also has a history of keeping his powder dry and saving his best for last. And Bush? Judging by where we are now as a result of his and his administrations actions (and inactions) over the last three years plus change, Bush is inclined to say one thing and do its opposite, surround himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear, and pretend that he doesn’t have problems. And on that last point… the bigger a problem gets, the harder he tries to ignore it — the war in Iraq being Exhibit A.

    I’m not too worried about Election Day anymore. On Thursday night, all of America saw both men precisely as they are.

    What drives voters nuts about Kerry isn’t that his views are contradictory. Though Republicans say just that over and over, for the most part, his views aren’t contradictory. It’s that they can be confusing: Bush “doesn’t do nuance,” but Kerry appears to do too much of it. That might explain why Kerry isn’t trouncing Bush in the polls.

    Then again, Bush just lost his edge over Kerry. Why? Because he showed that he isn’t what Rove, Hughes and Associates have long made him out to be. Even worse (for those of us who already knew he’s two-faced), he kept trying to project his worst traits onto Kerry, and the senator thwarted him every time.

    This race has been close for months. I believe that if Bush had done half the things he said he’d do over the years, there probably wouldn’t be a race.

    Too bad for Bush.

    Comment by Mimus Pauly — October 3, 2004 @ 1:27 am

  3. I wrote my letter!

    Comment by eRobin — October 3, 2004 @ 9:26 am

  4. It’s really a pleasure to visit
    websites where people can spell,
    and who enjoy expressing themselves
    with concise, witty statements.

    This really is a unique time in
    world history. Enjoy it.

    Comment by Scott — October 3, 2004 @ 7:24 pm

  5. Every American should see this. Even you liberals.
    http://media1.stream2you.com/rnc/080304v1.wmv
    rtsp://real.stream2you.com/RNC/RNC092004W.rm

    http://www.kerryoniraq.com/

    Comment by RJay — October 4, 2004 @ 6:32 am

  6. As a non-American I was surprised at the arrogance of Mr GWB. On a news item he was fielding questions from the Press but one reporter called him “Sir” instead of “Mr President” and he asked the reporter “Who are you talking to?” I just wish I could vote in the U.S. elections!

    Comment by eek — October 4, 2004 @ 3:23 pm

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