Criticism of Bush Policy and Character

[erpowers]

I was reading "The Great Unraveling" by Paul Krugman and in one of his columns he pointed out that some people believe "criticism should focus only on Bush's policies, not on his person." I thought most of the criticism leveled at Bush had focused on Bush's policy and not his character. Do DUers think that most of the criticism of Buhs has been about his policy and not personal life and/or character?

[AuntiBush]

1. His Policies Reflect Directly into his Personal Ideologies,

which in turn reflect directly into his private lifestyles and beliefs. With Bush, the two go hand-in-hand, especially if one listens and reads the polls throughout the mid-west and bible-belt areas when asked "why" they voted for Bush.

1) He's a Christan man. Reflection on his Character/Personal Life
2) He's against Pro-Choice/Abortion/Gay Marriages: Again, this reflects what his "character" is.

I'm sorry, but the only reasons I find why Bush won was:
1) Control of Voting Machines
2) Control of Under-educated, evangelical/religiously influenced folks, that when one thinks about it, were the most disenfranchised of us all. They were systematically pin-pointed on (certainly early on by Bush's research people), and found to be the most vulnerable, and easily persuaded/influenced with repeated usages of the few words they understand, sadly using the word God and in vain at that.

And finally, none of them can barely think of whom Bush's running-mate was... When asked who ran against Bush or what they thought of his running-mate, 9 times out of 10 they either do not know, or can't recall and respond that they knew barely anything of him. Thanks to the media-outage on their radios and TV's, Kerry was forced out.

This needs special attention "now" if the DNC is ever going to grab these people's attention. Not all are Internet suavy, and are obviously pre-conditioned, and brain-washed beyond belief.

[Extend a Hand]

6. Yes!

Actions (and policies) are a reflection of a person's values.
A person's character is defined by how he prioritizes his values.

I agree with you 100% on the voting machines.

[jedr]

2. character:

it doesn't seem to bother Karl Rove to make character an issue....I for one consider an ex- alcoholic turned born again Christan as a character flaw and should have been stressed far more...true they don't seem to attack his character enough for me and it doesn't bother me if they do...taking the high road is suicide in this battle

[fooj]

3. I think it is extremely important to continue in our criticism of Shrub's

policies...however- I also think that we need to expose this man's unbelievable LACK OF CHARACTER! For someone who runs on moral values...this man has nerve to parade around like some paragon of virtue! Why should we back off on the character aspect- hell they make it their life's work to assassinate people's character. For goodness sake- it's not as if we are LYING about any of it! Never once did he step up and say that the Swiftboat scandal was impuning a good man's character! Hell no! If he was TRULY what he professes to be- he might have called them off. We know why he didn't. There lies our answer!

HE IS A BULLY! HE IS A COWARD!

[SoCalifer]

4. Interesting

Is Paul Krugman a conservative? If so, then I wonder what his idea was about the relentless personal attacks made upon President Bill Clinton's personal character?

I wonder if he took the position that conservatives took back then -- the position that: "Character Matters"

[MsAnthropy]

5. Krugman is the left's most intelligent, articulate voice

His writing is consistently mind-blowing. You should read him.

[leftofthedial]

7. he deserves both

but his defenders, enablers, and supporters make no such distinction. they believe he should be exempt from all forms of criticism.