Tag: Election 2004

Attack! Attack!

Be afraid. Be very afraid. And don’t say we didn’t warn you. Nothing changes an undesirable news cycle quite like another terror threat, does it? As the AP article notes: “The sudden warning returns the nation’s attention to terrorism, the issue that President Bush has highlighted as a central theme of his re-election campaign, after intense focus on other subjects like Iraq and prisoner abuses in Iraq. Bush has lost ground in the polls, falling in approval ratings to the lowest point of his presidency.“

To be fair, releasing pics of the possible suspects is probably more helpful in preventing a future attack than the usual exhortations to buy duct tape. And nobody want to see another 9/11, particularly those of us who live in NYC. Still, the very fact that news articles have to concede that Dubya may just be pushing the Panic button for political points proves how untrustworthy this president has become. And don’t you love how Bush officials keep suggesting that Al Qaeda wants to “have some impact on the electoral process,” as if voting Democratic means the terrorists have won? Sorry, but you’ll have to count me among the many Americans who thinks that terrorists have more to fear from John Kerry than they ever would from Dubya’s haphazard and crony-driven homeland security agenda.

Wobbly Leadership.


So apparently Dubya handles a bike about as well as he handles a Segway (or the nation)…poorly. Well, at least one benefit of this nasty scrape for the viewing public is that, when Bush addresses the nation on Iraq tonight, you’ll literally get to see the blood on his hands.

Falling from the Faith.

As Dubya tries to rally the worried Republican troops, Speaker Hastert questions John McCain’s GOP cred. Hey, if you don’t want him, we’ll take him. Didn’t you guys learn anything from the Jim Jeffords defection?

Win one for the Gepper?

At a recent Teamster’s rally, Kerry is pressed to choose Gephardt as veep, and for the most part Kerry plays along, extolling the Missouri rep no less than four times. I dunno…I know Gephardt plays well in the crucial heartland, but he also reeks of Dem politics-as-usual. And, if the vaunted hidden strength of labor couldn’t even place Gephardt in the top two in Iowa, I’m not sure why Kerry should be choosing his running mate with them as his first priority. (Second link via Value Judgment.)

Ring around the Rummy.

With Rummy on the ropes, Dubya and Cheney rush to the defense of their man in Defense. Hey, hold him to your breast as long as possible, Mr. President…maybe then, you’ll all go down together come November.

Leap of Faith.

Pollster John Zogby believes Kerry will win in November. That’s good to hear, and I’m inclined to believe him…but I also think that the issue that will define this election has yet to occur, for good or ill. Either way, Kerry’s current press slump is nothing to write home about. There’s always a dry spell for challengers between the end of the primaries and the choosing of the veep. Um, so who is going to be the veep, anyway?