MASSACHUSETTS: It's the war, stupid

[sled]

It's the war, stupid

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6267~2588330,00.html

Friday, December 10, 2004 - 2:15:41 AM EST

At dinner parties and water coolers all over Blue America, liberals
are telling themselves a fairy tale about why John Kerry lost the
election: Gay marriage and fundamentalist religion were used to whip
the ignorant red state masses into a frenzy of intolerance and fear.

The left wing commentariat immediately began to parrot this
essentially self-serving Republican hypothesis, and it was proclaimed
that the Democratic Party must repudiate its Michael Moore wing and
reconnect with the moral and spiritual values of the mainstream.

Fortunately for the republic, this argument is all wet. Red state
voters are not puritans, hypocrites or dupes. John Kerry lost the
election because he failed to persuade voters he could keep them safe
from terrorism. Even a last- minute appearance by Osama bin Laden
himself failed to remind the Democratic candidate that the big issue
in the election was the fear that 9/11 was only the beginning.

(SNIP)

Democrats can make best use of their time in the wilderness by
learning from Mr. Kerry's mistakes and coming up with a real position
on the challenges that face America in a world on fire. They don't
have to get religion, they just have to start thinking clearly and
being honest with themselves.


CONTACT INFO: [e-mail]

[JI7]

1. he is right, although it's a problem more for the party

when people are in fear they look past the other things they have a problem with and vote for whoever is the most hawkish. Bush's tough on defense perception is mostly based on him just being a republican.the republican party is seen as the party of war and defense. the democratic party is still viewed as more of an anti war party.

people didn't look at specific plans or any specific proposal and say bush's was better. it was just the perception. for those who had as their top concern things like the war in iraq Kerry won by a huge amount. the problem is that many voters don't really look into all that.

Kerry gained from the debates and had the momentum, but the final days were filled with bin laden tape and the missing explosives story. while on du it may be viewed as a failure of bush administration a large amount of non partisans don't view it that way. they mostly see it in an emotional way. to them it's about terrorists and explosives that could hurt us. so they end up voting for whoever is viewed as the most hawkish. they put aside other issues they disagree with bush on because of fear.

[JuniorPlankton]

2. Very accurate description!

[Leaning_Right]

7. Rings true

A very liberal friend from work said he knew the election was over when his mother in-law, also very liberal, was voting for Bush. She had voted for every democrat presidential candidate since Truman but switch to Bush this election because she said Kerry didn't make her feel safe. Personally I beg to differ. I don't think Kerry would have been much different than Bush on Iraq or the rest of the war on terror. No one will chance a weak defense.

[Skittles]

12. oh PLEASE

a f***ing ham sandwich could do better than the piece of SHIT occupying the White House now. And the reason your friend's idiot mother-in-law voted for Bush is because she, like way too many Americans, is being fed a lot of horseshit by the corporate media.

By the wa - who did YOU vote for?

[aquart]

3. Okay, here's my letter:

I live in downtown Manhattan. Not for one second do I believe that George Bush can keep me safe from terrorism. I know he didn't bother to do it on 9/11. I know he didn't bother, despite memo after memo screaming about an attack, to do anything but get HIMSELF out of Dodge. He's excellent at keeping HIMSELF safe and letting the rest of us die.

Not one place that actually experienced foreign terrorism on American soil voted for George Bush, the heartless coward who couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone and ask how many of us were dead, dying, in need of help. We know what he did that day. He did nothing. It's on film.

I understand that you've realized that the Miracle of the Religious Bigots didn't happen, and you're rushing to find another answer for the surprising "win" of the most incompetent president we've ever endured, but this dog don't hunt, either. I'm far less afraid of the cockroach Bin Laden than I am of the fascist George Bush who is so good at sending others to die, with my money.

He let us die. May he never sleep.

[ExclamationPoint]

5. I wish the red states could all just read that

They are afraid of terrorists, but they haven't had an ounce of terrorism. Bush won't even try to keep Democratic states safe. We must do it our selves.

[Skittles]

4. Kerry did not so much "fail to convince"

as much as the corporate media cheerleads and misleads the public on about Bush Inc.

[MasonJar]

6. The thing that we keep forgetting is that Stump did not win in

2000 or 2004. Too many groups were registering too many anti-Bush voters in both Florida and Ohio. Guys and dolls, we were cheated. We will never regain power unless we insist on a paper trail and send quite a few to jail.

[peacebird]

8. will bushco overreach mightily and selfdestruct ?

will the falling dollar and unemployment bring us to our knees a la the USSR in rayguns day?
and will america survive and rise above the neocons rule?

i had such hopes for the election, but without a paper trail can we really believe the results? Do we have anything vaguely resembling a democracy any more?

but hey - at least gays can't get married, right? ...sigh.

[lesterhalfjr]

9. Bush's appeal is in "what's not there"

I think this is how he won two elections. He isn't a typical politician, he doesn't have the uncomfotable seperation between himself and the people. My problem is: what IS there? not much!!!

[Mari333]

10. Again, the war on Terra is a pile of steaming horseshit

Bush created MORE danger by attacking Iraq (for no reason)...if Kerry would have pumped up that truth, that Bush created MORE animosity and hatred towards the US by his illegal little occupationm
we might have gone somewhere..Kerry should have used the word LIAR when describing Bush and his cronies...
and IF the US public that voted for Bush would get their heads out of their lazy collective arses and look for the truth, they might find it..they are lazy ...lazy ...lazy....the truth isnt that hard to find.

[George_S]

11. even a last- minute appearance by Osama bin Laden?

Actually, that could be why Bush won, and I'm still certain Rove planned the timing of the release of that tape, after they edited it the way the wanted it, of course.