the talking dog

The Unseen Editor chimes in to observe that my capsule summaries of the major candidates was NOT what he had in mind for that project (I didn't think it was!) but that what the essence of the project would be is critiques and praises of the candidates as they take stands and make statements (and whatever else it is candidates do) that will either be "helpful" or "harmful" toward the ultimate prize: a Democrat in charge on 21 January 2005. Well, to be honest, though I'm sure its out there, I just hadn't seen a blog list the major candidates' official campaign sites all in the same place, so I thought that exercise alone was worth the trouble, and I thought it is necessary to look carefully at George W. Bush himself, who, as a polarizing presence, has an awful lot of supporters as well as detractors.

I am directed by U.E. to Rich Lowry, and this piece parallelling Bush-haters with Clinton haters. While in my opinion, its a simplistic view of the world (in my opinion, both Clinton and Bush have demonstrated incredible character deficiencies, and hence, are capable of the atrocities of which they are accused, though of course, there is little to no evidence of the actual malfeasance of which their staunchest haters assert), there is a valuable point here.

Clinton's saving grace was having the good fortune to have really lame enemies, including Henry "Affair Having Moral Scold" Hyde, Newt "Where do we Even Start?" Gingrich, Ken "Javert" Starr, or Trent "Antebellum Family Values" Lott. In the end, statements like "Its just a vast right wing conspiracy" had some resonance because the ad hominem worked. There were fair criticisms of Clinton's character, specifically, by failing to resolve the Paula Jones case (he could have settled, defaulted, or... told the truth!), he put his personal interests ahead of those of the nation, and the nation deserved better than that. Those fair criticisms were instead subsumed by puritannical scolds and a feeding frenzy ensued that was rightly seen as crassly partisan.

Well, the Bush haters (yes, I'm one of them, though I didn't like Clinton much either) are off and running. While, to quote the President himself, Bush-hating "feels good", its... a bad idea. The President's record is bad enough on its own (IMHO) without having to try to augment it with unprovable augmentations about the atrocities the Bush family is implicated in (including the JFK assassination!). While the President has supporters, shrill pronouncements of hatred and anger will get people of goodwill (who want regime change in Washington) precisely nowhere. Most people probably feel they connect with and like the President on a personal level-- they like his combination of inarticulateness and cock-sure certainty. (Howard Dean, this means your endless anger will not get you very far.)

Look- Bush fights dirty, and he misleads. So what? Its all a matter of degree, I'm afraid. The record speaks for itself: now, as compared with two and a half years ago, the nation has millions more jobless, a budget surplus has become a record budget deficit (with the potential to drive up long term interest rates and thereby reduce home values), states and municipalities are cash-strapped and must raise taxes and reduce services, trillions of dollars have been lost in stock values, and at least two rogue states (Iran and North Korea) are on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, even as a choice was made to deploy most of the nation's available combat forces to Iraq, which was not.

For some people, federal tax relief at the upper brackets has been substantial, as have government subsidies (or in some cases, tariffs). Other people like the moralizing and scolding from the White House. Others feel that there is a moral clarity in the nation's foreign policy, and that in these dangerous times, the President has shown he is the kind of courageous leader required for the job.
It is a mistake to not realize that the number of people who actually think they like the President is enormous. The issue is not so much to convince the nation that it made a mistake in 2000 by picking the guy they liked better as opposed to the guy whose policies they liked better , but rather that the President has had his term, and unfortunately, his policies leave a great deal to be desired, we can do better, and under a Democrat, we will do better.

It's mostly the economy, stupid. And a few other high notes, of course. But it's not about how loathsome George W. Bush is. Unless we want to see him reelected.

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The comparison is ludicrous. My wife, virtually all her family, and every other Republican I know think that Clinton had Vince Foster killed. But what does Foster's death have to do with any policy issue? The Foster story was nothing more or less than a way to get the man without debating his policies. In comparison noone I know (and certainly noone credible) believes that Dubya has swasticas (sp?) hanging in his basement. The Nazi links to his grandfather serve to make the (very real) perception that Dubya is of and for a priviledged few for whom money is more important than values.

The issues are different because the accusations against Bush are a) two generations removed, and people (or at least the courts) are smart enough to understand the generational distance and b) do have something to do with putting his policies in perspective.

Posted by CD at August 21, 2003 07:13 PM

CD:

I don't know how to respond. Are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that UN-CRAZY people actually believe that Bill Clinton ordered a hit on Vince Foster?
Hillary, sure-- we all know SHE'S fucking Lady McBeth (and probably had an affair with Foster herself)-- but BILL? A murderer?

Man, that's just crazy talk.

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the talking dog

August 21, 2003, Clinton season... No, Bush season...

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