[mass55th]

Leopards don't change their spots, and hopefully the people will realize that about Kerry.

[RightWingMama]

What Bush needs to do is simple: make the positive case for his reelection--for his stewardship of the country since September 11, for the war in Iraq, for his overall success in the global war on terror. He should spend August making this positive argument, and mostly ignoring Kerry.

Exactly! He did that today in Springfield. Excellent speech.

[gilliam]

Bill makes sense.

[goldstategop]

I agree. At the end of the day, President Bush will be defined by the record he must run on. And its his best weapon against John F*ckin's resort to cliched sophmorisms and platitudes. The most powerful defense against liberalism is the sunlight of truth.

[skeeter]

Kristol's got a good point... being a patriotic guy I used to take offense at the phrase, but after last night I have to admit I finally understand its meaning.

[OldFriend]

Nice to see that I was not alone in being angered by the speech.

And I thought the Klinton's were shameless. Seems it's an epidemic of epic proportions in the demon party.

[hershey]

Kerry can't admit he plans to raise taxes on the middle class, so economic pie in the sky plans can't be discussed. At some point reporters will notice this hole in his four year plan and start talking about it, so either Kerry finds a way to sell tax hikes to voters (unlikely), or TerAYsa buys him the presidency -- something she's already threatened to do.

[thoughtomator]

When Kerry was telling that "I was born in the west wing" story, I could have sworn he was going to say "I was born in the left wing."

[GailA]

How did he vote on Bosnia and Kosovo? We are still there...come to think of it slick willie said it would just be a SHORT term thing.

[southernnorthcarolina]

The title, and opening sentence, of the article refer, of course, to Samuel Johnson's aphorism: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Ambrose Bierce replied, over a century later: "With all due respect to the enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first."

Whichever (if either) definition you like, I think most would agree that the use of patriotism by the likes of John Kerry is particularly stomach-churning.

[Rokke]

I don't like Kristol. But after reading this, maybe I should just avoid listening to him, and stick to reading him.

[AlbionGirl]

This is a good piece by Kristol, and I think his advise to ignore kerry is absolutley right on. President Bush should criss cross the Country speaking off-the-cuff. He does much better when he's unscripted and truly himself. However, the following is very worrisome indeed.

On the one hand, a plurality of the American people now say they oppose having gone to war to remove Saddam.

[McGavin999]

He exects the American people to ignore 20 years of voting and on the record speeches and believe what he is saying now, even though 180 degrees away from his known beliefs, is what he really stands for. Talk about thinking the American people are stupid!

[xzins]

He has failed to provide a real argument for himself, or against the incumbent president.

Precisely.

Kerry thinks the presidency is his birthright.

Given that I worry about his mental state after he loses. If you remember, Gore believed exactly the same thing. And he has seriously gone off the deep end.

Dealing with the fruits and nuts crowd is getting a little eerie.

[edchambers]

(snip)What Bush needs to do is simple: make the positive case for his reelection--for his stewardship of the country since September 11, for the war in Iraq, for his overall success in the global war on terror.

I beleive that's exactly what he's doing except the ignoring Kerry part.He's already reminding voters that KERRY WILL RAISE THIER TAXES.This is smart I can not think of one instance where voters have elected a candidate that admits thier intention to raise taxes.

[Dolphy]

The Democratic nominee has shunned substance for patriotic atmospherics.

And to think he spent days handwriting the speech himself.

[randog]

I really think the dems are toast. The convention was supposed to be their "quality time" to present their vision of the country to the country, and their main man was supposed to sum it all up in his acceptance speech. So what did he do instead? He ignored nearly all of the issues a presidential candidate should be addressing and instead talked about what a cuddly teddy bear he is. How pathetic.

I'm sure the backroom discussions these days at the DNC HQ are peppered with phrases like "cluster f***"..."debacle"...."we're hosed".... "maybe he'll have a stroke"....Seriously, Kerry left every national issue unexplained, practically begging Bush and the republicans to define his positon for him, including the war in Iraq!! I don't think there are enough hours in the day for Bush to pummel Kerry on every issue he's left undefined.

The dems have basically walked away from their convention with no national platform. That means they stand for nothing. How long can a political party last that stands for nothing?

[wildwood]

DEMOCRATS--THE HINDSIGHT PARTY