LA Times: Kerry and Bush as macho men --

[DeepModem Mom]

COLUMN ONE
Who's the Man? They Are
George Bush and John Kerry stand shoulder to shoulder in one respect: Macho is good. Very good. It's been that way since Jefferson's day.

By James Rainey, Times Staff Writer


....If it's not Kerry tossing a football across an airport tarmac, it's President Bush stomping around his Texas ranch in denim and cowboy boots. Bush waves the starter's flag at NASCAR's Daytona 500. Kerry blasts away at pheasant with a double-barreled shotgun....

***

"When you have a war going on, usually the macho factor will prevail," said Joan Hoff, a Montana State University history professor and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. "Bush feels it's to his advantage to keep foreign policy as a major issue. But when that comes up, I think you are going to see a lot of 'Who is tougher than whom.' "....

***

"It's the Bush campaign, primarily, that's using the masculinity and macho themes," said Eric Davis, a political science professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. "In his speaking and the way he presents himself, down at the ranch in denim shirt and jeans; the tough talk, this is all designed to appeal to males who … don't want to associate with a party or candidate that's seen as soft."....

***

But political handlers say there is a danger in striking the manly man pose too blatantly, and it can be summed up in one word: women. They will cast more votes than men in November. And although some female voters may crave a paternal figure they feel can protect the country, polls indicate more women remain preoccupied with so-called "soft" issues such as jobs, education and healthcare. In recent surveys, women tend to be more critical of Bush....


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-macho18mar18,1,6394999.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. well, smart women anyway

The stupid stepford one's will go for Bush. Or just sit back in the kitchen and make a sandwich for their husband when he comes back from voting.

[meti57b]

2. bush macho?? .. he reminds me of Shirley Temple as a 3-year old!

On the good ship
lollipop
its a sweet trip
to the candy shop
where bon-bon's play,
on the sunny beach
of peppermint bay
Lemonade stands,
everywhere
crackerjack bands,
fill the air,
and there you are,
happy landings on a chocolate bar.
See the sugar bowl
do a tootsie roll
in a big bad devils food cake,
if you eat too much,
oh, oh,
you'll awake,
with a tummy ache.