Why the race is looking so good for Bush

MSNBC ^ | 4/22/04 | Howard Fineman

[pookie18]

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry's spin doctors claim that they haven't lost ground to George Bush in recent weeks, and they are staging what they insist is the "launch" of his general election campaign this week with new TV ads airing and a trip next week to the Midwest. But the fact is that Kerry has lost ground — ground he has to make up if he hopes to win in November. The more interesting question is why? My reasons:

• Richard Ben-Veniste & Co. The media loved the 9/11 commission hearings. By instinct, we thrilled to watch a prosecutor such as B-V on the hunt, creeping in on a witness like a big cat. But the commission, which served as a platform for the theatrical Richard Clarke and the cross-examinations of Democratic members, eventually came off as too political and partisan to damage the president. Just the opposite, I think. Too many of the commissioners ended up looking like they were pressing to prove that Bush could have and should have prevented the 9/11 catastrophe — a theory the public doesn’t buy. In fact, most Americans tend to blame the rise of terrorism here on the eight-year Clinton administration. Bush, without having to say much, was able to play the political victim.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Paragraphs, my friend....PARAGRAPHS!

< P >

[hobbes1]

Hey, pookie, Formatting is our friend... ; )

[rellimpank]

----GO, RALPH, GO----!!!

[Phantom Lord]

John Kerry just needs to introduce himself to the American people.

Or so his campaign keeps saying every time he "introduces himself" every other week.

Algore reinvented himself every 2nd Wednesday. John Kerry has to keep introducing himself. The problem for Kerry is that America has met him and they don't like him.

[BlessedAmerican]

Lighten up, we are not all computer gurus....but the article is great...just heard Rush comment on it...

[LiteKeeper]

read later!

[Huck]

Hard to believe it coming from that homo Fineman. I like the way he tries to cover up the obvious media bias here:

The media loved the 9/11 commission hearings. By instinct, we thrilled to watch a prosecutor such as B-V on the hunt, creeping in on a witness like a big cat.

See that? They just like feline prosecutors. It has nothing to do with it being a poltical witchunt going after REPUBLICANS. Nah, the media hardly noticed that angle, right Howie?

[VadeRetro]

Politics is a game of context. And for now, this early in the campaign, the context isn’t Bush versus Kerry — it’s Bush versus the murderers and thugs.

Yeah! Are you sure Howie wrote this?

[TheBigB]

Oh, thank you!!

[fooman]

Hillary....

Watch out Kerry

[samtheman]

I read this with my mouse-pointer. Not so bad, that way.

So far the "BC04" (as the writer calls it) is doing well. I think undecideds are being held back by fear of some kind of blow up in Iraq. Once it sinks in that no matter what the situation in Iraq, Kerry will be a hindrance rather than a help, the undecideds will trickle over to the BC04 side of things.

Assuming the economy continues progressing (which it should) and that Iraq is somehow contained (which I expect), the Bush lead should be substantial by the end of summer.

[Maceman]

I dunno. At DU they are predicting a landslide for Kerry.

Personally, I am very much looking forward to spending election night at DU enjoying the mass suicide watch over there.

[The South Texan]

Is Finemen trying to get back in the loop at the White House.

[blackie]

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[BonnieJ]

Chris Matthews isn't happy with Howie today!
That's quite an honest and objective article and esp. considering the source...I'm amazed!

[mlbford2]

Uhhhh, DU was predicting a landslide in the 2002 elections...........DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dead]

Kerry told financial supporters in New York the other week that his objective, for now, was to “preserve my acceptability.” That’s a pretty low standard — but one he won’t meet if that is his only goal. So far, his strategy has amounted mostly to: Vote for me, I’m not Bush. That’s not enough, especially if Kerry is seen by most voters the way the BC04 ad portrays him: as a flip-flopping manipulative insider.

Good article.

[WOSG]

Right.

Howie called Ben Veniste a 'prosecutor'.... hmmmm???
What criminals has he locked up lately?

He mis-spelled "LIBERAL DEMOCRAT SHILL AND MAFIA LAWYER"

[WOSG]

"The problem for Kerry is that America has met him and they don't like him."

It is even worse than that. The problem for Kerry is that he has met America and he doesnt like *us*.

[hobbes1]

See post33 on that DU thread...

SlackJaw (9 posts)
Thu Apr-22-04 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #30

33. I would agree with you...BUT

I went to the Sheraton Bal Harbor rally and fundraiser that John Kerry spoke at. In attendance was Kerry, Edwards, Graham, Nelson, and many others. Kerry almost put me to sleep, the crowd was small and unenthusiastic, and people were even walking out during the speech. I am discouraged.

[dead]

They are nothing if not delusional.

Their entire thought process is "Everyone I hang out with hates Bush, so therefore Bush is going to lose big time!"

In reality, they need to wake up to the fact that everybody they hang out with is a freaking idiot, like themselves.

[Howlin]

Watch for those numbers; at the "This reminds me of Vietnam" thing down in LA yesterday, the paper actually said there were only 200 people there!

Add that to the SMALL crowds he's had in Floirda.......and something IS going on, IMO.

[Condor51]

When a DNC kool-aid drinker like Fineman writes stuff like:

"He is a wooden campaigner, and his 20 years in the Senate have left him unable to see that bragging about legislative maneuvers is the last thing you want to do."

... and...

"Kerry told financial supporters in New York the other week that his objective...was to “preserve my acceptability.” That’s a pretty low standard — but one he won’t meet if that is his only goal. So far, his strategy has amounted mostly to: Vote for me, I’m not Bush. That’s not enough especially if Kerry is seen by most voters the way the BC04 ad portrays him: as a flip-flopping manipulative insider.

I say it's over for Mr. Kerry-Kohn. The stealth Klintoon attack machine has begun it's evil work.

Wait.. what's that I hear off in the distance? Why it's the sound of cloven hooves clip-clopping on the pavement and the legs of a pig in a polyester pantsuit rubbing together.

[ijcr]

WOW! Those folks have way too much anger...but there was this gem from SlackJaw.

"I went to the Sheraton Bal Harbor rally and fundraiser that John Kerry spoke at. In attendance was Kerry, Edwards, Graham, Nelson, and many others. Kerry almost put me to sleep, the crowd was small and unenthusiastic, and people were even walking out during the speech. I am discouraged.

[EllaMinnow]

In Fineman's own words, the 9 reasons:

Richard Ben Veniste & Co
Fallujah and Najaf
"Resolve"
Bob Woodward's Blessing
Tony and Trump
50 Million Bucks Worth of Ads
The Economy
Nader
Kerry, of Course

[mlbford2]

Don't yu worry. Fineman will be out with in article next week claiming Bush is the spawn of lucifer, keeper of the gates of hell banished to earth by satan to wreek havoc on the land with his republican evildoing minions of blood lusting followers. Or some derivitive of that.

[Badeye]

People are beginning to note the obvious, which is Kerry is a terrible candidate for President. Even the envirowacko's hate him, he's sold them out too many times in the name of "political expediency".

From his speaking style, to his embedded arrogance, the guy is the winner of what Krauthammer accurately described a month ago as the "weakest, and weirdest, group of candidate for President the Democratic Party has ever offered" or words to that affect.

If you are a Bush supporter, Kerry's a gift thats even better than Howard Dean. Kerry, unlike Dean, has a 19 year track record of being wrong on every major issue of his time in the Senate.

[Pikamax]

BTTT

[Finalapproach29er]

3 weeks ago Howie said Bush was in huge trouble.

Like Morris, his opinion is meaningless.

[Sam the Sham]

He left out one very important reason.

Sodomites.

Everyone knows that were Kerry not running for president he would be endorsing sodomite marriage. Support for it is universal in the milieu he comes from. Americans are rightly worried about the kind of "civil rights" Kerry appointed judges will unleash on them.

[1Old Pro]

Bad candidates lose elections Carter, Dole, Mondale,Kerry all come to mind. People like candidates with some appeal....Reagan, Clintoon, George W. I'm afraid to say that probably most of the undecideds vote based on who the "like". Not what they stand for.

[pookie18]

Don't drink the Kool-Aid at DU!

[pookie18]

I guess he must have a book in the works...

[scott0347]

for later reading

[meatloaf]

I think some are already panicking.

[pookie18]

But on some issues, he was right before he was wrong ;-)

[OpusatFR]

"...So far, his strategy has amounted mostly to: Vote for me, I’m not Bush..."

Yup, and he's not JFK either.

He'd better saddle up his Gulfstream 5 and fly away. BTW, how does my truck compare to the fuel use of a G-5?

[EllaMinnow]

AS my sainted mother used to say...

"The one who smiles, wins!"

[Eighth Square]

BANNA LEGS TO THE RESCUE! I love it!

[Wright is right!]

"Bad candidates lose elections Carter, Dole, Mondale,Kerry all come to mind. People like candidates with some appeal....Reagan, Clintoon, George W. I'm afraid to say that probably most of the undecideds vote based on who the "like". Not what they stand for."

What you're talking about is Common Tator's Rule Of Likeability. The rule simply states that the more likeable candidate in a presidential race always wins. Applying this rule, there is NO WAY Qerry will win. He is even LESS likeable than Algore. The Amurrican Pipple have had four years to watch GeeDubya on TV - and they still like him. The more Qerry is on TV, the LESS they like him.

As we say in the advertising business, nothing kills off great advertising faster than a bad product. Qerry is advertising a lot, and all of the Fraudcast TV Networks are giving him as much free airtime as he wants. Yet the more he's on, the less traction he gets. His only real hope of winning would be to totally disappear from now until the convention, and then disappear completely after it - surfacing only the weekend before the election.

That, of course, is not going to happen. By the time November rolls around, the general population (leaving out the die-hard kool-aid drinkers) will be SICK of Qerry.

Michael

[Southack]

It's a good article as far as the news media goes...but it misses the big picture.

President Bush is doing well because the American people like what they see (hard work ethic in office, positive agenda, strong leadership regardless of polls, etc.) in GWB and because the opposition has no positive agenda to promote, no leadership to offer, and no work ethic. Senator Kerry, for instance, has only been at work in the Senate for 3 votes this year. He's honestly had more vacations than votes. That's no work ethic. He votes for issues before he votes against them, too. That's not leadership. And he's got no new ideas. We've been hearing his pro-abortion claptrap since way before Roe v Wade 3 decades ago.

Once you've got the big picture in mind, you can then drill down to more specific issues, where the comparison between Senator Kerry and President Bush widens even further.

Presidency of George W. Bush -- the first 39 months

 

President Bush signing a federal ban on Partial Birth Abortion

Banned Partial Birth Abortion

Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy

Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.

Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals

Signed E.O. reversing Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act

Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty

Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court

Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California

Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down every home business in America

Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses

Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first ten ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a defense against North Korean nukes

President Bush pledged to Israel on 4/14/2004 that it could keep parts of the West Bank, giving international legitimacy to Jewish settlements there

Denied Palestinian refugees any right of return to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state instead

Part of coalition (Russia, Israel, EU, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"

Pushed through THREE raises for our military

Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years

President Bush's Grand Strategy

President Bush's Environmental Record - 2004

Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit

Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers

Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right

Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e. the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty)

Signed the 2004 Omnibus Budget 1/26/2004 that now MANDATES that gun buyers' background check information be fully and permanently destroyed within 24 hours of the completion of the check, no matter what.

Disarmed Libya of its Chemical, Nuclear, and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed

Won an agreement that U.S. Navy sailors may now freely board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry (signed Feb 11, 2004).

Successfully executed 2 wars: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom

 

Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)

 

Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed

Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia

Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.

Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency

Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.

Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.

Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.

Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.

GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)

Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession.

Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

Signed 2 income tax cuts ---- 1 of which was the largest Dollar-value tax cut in world history

Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains

In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people

Eliminated the Estate Tax (AKA "Death Tax") that was taking small farms and businesses from families

Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)

Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.

Signed trade promotion authority

Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa

Passed Medicare Reform (authorized $39.5 Billion per year for preventive medicine such as drugs and doctor visits as well as included a ten year Privatization option)

Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits

Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims

Submitted comprehensive Energy Plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)

Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----this quote was too good to leave out)

Started the USA Freedom Corps

Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.

Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)

Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.

Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.

As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.

Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.

President Bush signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal Aliens
S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.

U.S. Forces In Baghdad

[teletech]

I went to the Sheraton Bal Harbor rally and fundraiser that John Kerry spoke at. In attendance was Kerry, Edwards, Graham, Nelson, and many others. Kerry almost put me to sleep, the crowd was small and unenthusiastic, and people were even walking out during the speech. I am discouraged.

Hey Kerry, I've got the perfect job for you-- HYPNOTIST! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[george wythe]

Why are liberals being so harsh on Kerry? Is another shoe about to drop?

“Resolve.”
In politics, you can’t beat something with nothing. Bush has a plan and a vision: His goal is to protect the American homeland by spreading democracy (by military force if necessary) to the cockpit of Islamic fundamentalism. This idea strikes many serious people as naïve and grandiose at best, dangerously imperious and counter-productive at worst. But what, precisely, is the better idea? Kerry certainly hasn’t made that clear.

“Winning hearts and minds” sounds nice, but how do you do that these days? Relying on the United Nations sounds good, too, except that the U.N. has little real credibility. Reinventing the CIA clearly is necessary, but it will take America years if not decades to approach the sophistication of the British — and even they are eyeless in Gaza.

Polls show that voters still think it was a good idea to go to Iraq, though they think that by an ever-dwindling margin. But they probably won’t abandon that belief — or Bush — until they can clearly see an alternative answer. Indeed, in most important ways, Kerry seems to basically agree with Bush on the goals and current strategies in Iraq

Kerry has always been a lightweight who never got any major legislation passed. Why are liberal reporters critizing Kerry for being Kerry?

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

(Kerry) has no illusions about his own star power or charisma.

Fineman's wrong about that. John Kerry thinks that he's Cary f******* Grant.

[OpusatFR]

Buyer's remorse!

[george wythe]

Kerry at Bal Harbor Sheraton lulls them

First-hand account by Freeper

Tonight, April 21, Democratic party Presidential candidate John 'F-is-for-flipflop' Kerry and Theresa Heinz made a fund raising and campaign appearance at the Bal Harbor Sheraton near Miami Beach, Florida. Nationally prominent Dems present included Senator John Corzine, Senator Bob Graham and Senator John Edwards. Elian Gonzales' attorney Kendall Coffe was also there along with prominent Florida Democrat Jimmy Morales.

It was hard to determine which was the greater problem with the event: lack of attendance or lack of enthusiam since both were very evident. Approximately 250-300 people stood silently listening to Senator Kerry's droll recitation of his by now familiar stump speech until some could take no more and began to leave first by twos and threes and then in larger groups. After Kerry finally said something that got an applause--about replacing John Ashcroft as Attorney General--he ended his speech, shook hands with John Edwards and quickly left the stage with Ms. Heinz the ketchup heiress in tow.

[george wythe]

A coworker of mine, who is active in Democratic politics and cousin to a famous liberal US Senator, told me a few months ago that Kerry had the personality of a mouse. The coworker told me that he hopes Kerry will win, but barring any major change in the economy or Iraq, Kerry will go down for being boring.

I have never met Kerry in person yet, so all I know is what I've seen in TV, but I suspect Kerry has trouble connecting to people, even Democratic operatives.

What I don't understand is why I've read this week several liberal reporters taking Kerry to task for being Kerry. He's supposed to be vague and boring!

[OpusatFR]

I think the new incarnation will play to his weaknesses.

Think Abraham Lincoln. Lord, I hope they try it.