| I really doubt the Democrats see this situation as a positive for them.
By midnight, our troubles could be over. |
Posted on 08/14/2004 9:35:01 AM PDT by technomage
An interesting conversation was on Fox News this morning. Stuart Varney (sp) mentioned that for the two months after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida the National GDP actually dropped. Then, when recovery efforts really kicked in, the national economy benefited. Many feel this drop was one of the reasons Bush I lost the election.
The monetary costs of Charley will probably get close to, or exceed, the 27 billion dollar price tag of Andrew. This may cause the national economy to stall before the rebuilding efforts start in earnest and trickle into the economy. Might not be soon enough.
Stu neglected to mention Ross Perot.
If GDP drops and the republicans do a good job of explaining why, then hopefully the electorate is smart enough to figure it out. But who knows, probably a third of the voters mark their ballots based on what happened in their lives during the past 2 days before the election anyway.
The economy is larger now, and it is about to get an infusion from the troops coming home from Europe.
Americans will not blame the weather on GWB, only the demonrats will
Say what?
There is a lot of insurance money that will flowing. That happened after Hugo,and it will happen now.
you are 100% correct. perot got 19% of the vote
THAT elected bubba.
Hurricane Ross, you might say.
"Read my lips, no new taxes"
That's what cost Bush the election...broken promises on core Republican issues.
an interesting point, I must admit.
The Myopic are funny on both sides.... You think it'll lose it for Bush.... DU thinks Bush will now ~win~ Florida because of the hurricane.
NO
this is W's chance to drown the entire state with dollars dollars dollars ...
Although it makes no sconomic sense (the fallacy of the broken window), there is a perception among the public and the news media that such disasters are good for the economy because they "create employment" fthrough the need for massive reconstruction.
I remember reading years ago this very idea in Time Magazine, which wrote that the bright side of Hurricane Andrew was that it stimulated the economy by creating work for the construction trades, which then presumable filters through the economy.
As I say, the argument is economic nonsense, but nevertheless many see it that way.
If Bush loses because of the hurricane, it will be because Florida voters are upset at their misfortune and looking for someone to blame, not because of GDP.
I see this thing completely the opposite. The hurricane gives President Bush a wide open opportunity to show how well he can handle a crisis, again. He can go down there, toss out emergency funds freely, and assure the people they'll be taken care of. He works well in these scenarios. I really doubt the Democrats see this situation as a positive for them.
Why Bubba won:
1) Ross Perot (19% of vote)
2) Read My Lips
3) Slow reaction to Andrew
Yes, if the Demoists can convince the sheeple that terrorists caused it and homeland security failed to stop it ;-)
Kerry will say, he could have prevented the hurricane with. a "Stress HAARP." Jfk the "Majestic Man."
Hopefully it will make those cowardly Democrats flee back to New York and Massachusetts where their votes won't matter as much.
Does exploding trailer parks help or hurt Bush?
I guess I should have been a bit clearer. I am not posting my thoughts, I am posting the thoughts of one of the regulars on FoxNews.
you are 100% correct. perot got 19% of the vote
The partisan media will do the rest anyway, no matter what Bush does.
| I really doubt the Democrats see this situation as a positive for them.
By midnight, our troubles could be over. |
In my local paper today, there is a completely unbiased news article from the AP explaining that Bush would be able to exploit this tragedy for his personal political gain, and that the Democrats had better be on guard.
Cheating,
Voting by the Dead,
Fraud,
cheating,
Voting by Criminals, illegal aliens,
Erasing the Military vote,
multiple voting,
cheating,
and Democratic lying (as usual).
Well, we all know without him even saying so, that If Kerry had been President he would have tied Florida to a swift boat and towed it out of danger.
I'll tell you one thing...hurricanes boost certain retail industries.
Plywood was flying off the shelf in Home Depots. Some Home Depots that weren't 24 hour stores were still staying open for 24 hours and they were shipping in plywood and supplies from other areas.
Florida merchants have gotten smarter at least as far as the retail industry that provides needed hurricane supplies, IMHO.
The grocery stores never ran out of bottled water, the home depots never ran out of plywood, the batteries seem to be in good supply, there was tape available.
A few years ago if there had been a hurricane threat, if you didn't get water and groceries a few days ahead...there wouldn't be any.
Also the hotel industry in central Florida must have done a huge business because of people fleeing inland from Tampa Bay.
As far as the Tampa Bay area, businesses closed up for 1/2 a day, so that is all the revenue that was lost.
President Bush should take time off from campaigning and visit the areas hit by Hurricane Charley. He should take with him (to the extent they are willing to go) the congressional leaders from both parties so that they can see the devastation first hand. (And, Kerry is not a congressional leader: he is merely a candidate who can go on campaigning or not as he pleases). Then President Bush should propose any additional emergency funding (beyond what is already available through FEMA, etc.) on a fast track. Such a bi-partisan approach will give him the high ground and leave it to the Democrats to play politics.
This may cause the national economy to stall before the rebuilding efforts start in earnest and trickle into the economy. Might not be soon enough.
Stewart Varney and Brian Wilson should shut up and do some research before they open their mouth and make all those doom and gloom scenarios about the effect of Hurricane Charley on the economy and the election.
I cannot believe the crap I am seeing on Foxnews lately. They are becoming as bad as CNN and MSNBC.
We cannot trust Foxnews anymore. We need to have a conservative cable network, period.
The media is simply moving the goal posts up in time.
Thank God! I've been hoping we would get out of Europe!
Not another penny, for a euro...Bring the boys home!
Kerry can't find Cambodia either.
Bush forces hurricane Charley into Florida!
Commits political suicide!
Yes, this is Bush's chance to be a hero, and I'm certain he WILL do everything in his power to help FLA, but in the past he's shown he's the anti-Clinton and doesn't charge in to disaster areas for photo-ops on the grounds that the last thing such areas need at that point is the security/ media nightmare that accompanies him. (IIRC, he didn't show at the Texas floods, shuttle disaster or western wildfire scenes until weeks after the events, and often did only in fly-overs with press confrences held outside the actual damage scenes.) He may break that pattern this time, but don't be surprised if he doesn't. That's not all bad... anger and resentment ran VERY high in OKC when Clinton shut down everything so he could come bite his lip at the F5 tornado scene, and you KNOW the media would put a negative spin on "Bush not in FLA because he cares about the people, he's just buying votes with aid money".
You hit that one right on the head!
President Bush is visiting the hard hit areas in Florida tomorrow morning, Sunday August 15th 2004.
Why not?
After all, it was Bush's fault!!
Quite the opposite. W. and Jeb will ride to the rescue. Kerry can't go there, he'll look like he's pandering.
I sure hope not, but it seems that Pres. Bush can't catch a real break.
One thing is the shortage of building supplies in the US right now. Concrete prices are way up, rebar, lumber, everything. Lots of these supplies are being diverted to China and Iraq.
Clinton wasn't impeached for "feeling up" Monica, because he had done such a fantastic job of feeling our pain.
I agree that some of Perot voters were conservative leaning but a 'huge majority'? Of that I'm not sure..... The following is one study that looks at the numbers on a state by state basis [electoral college] .....
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:jq4Mf-RusPgJ:www.fairvote.org/plurality/perot.htm++perot+clinton+bush&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
What the heck are you people talking about!!!!!!
Norway babes v USA babes.
Been away from the the news a while?
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I've been looking at that NOAA map, and it looks to me like the eye of the Hurricane will pass directly over DNC Headquarters at 11:23 p.m.