I've got more hope than EVER today

[freedom_to_read]

Ok, everyone seems to think that Kerry's already lost. Another op-ed piece this morning in the Bo-Globe (by notorious Kerry-baiter Joan Vennochi) comparing him to Dukakis.

Yawn.

Come on folks, this is the week of the RNC. Let them have their say. Let them show the American people how they want to run a campaign: devoid of issues, wrapped in a flag-covered Bible, relentlessly spiteful and puerile. Let them project Cheney's ogre-like sneer, Zell Miller's frothing-at-the-mouth rants, the Bush girls sophomoric tittering, in larger-than-life technicolor for the whole world to see. Let the Chimp-in-Chief himself blather about his "vision" of an "ownership society." Let them lock themselves up their hermetically-sealed echo chamber and roll themselves off a cliff, chanting "4 MORE YEARS" the whole way.

Kerry doesn't need to descend into this slime pit, and if he were out there every morning dignifying this crap with point-by-point responses, he would be the one looking desperate.

Despite what you might think if you listen our Esteemed Press Corps, the American people are NOT in love with GWB. Think about it: 1/2 a million people (and counting) in the streets of NYC protesting his regime. If you figure that only 1 out of every 1000 people who oppose this guy actually have the time, means, and chutzpah to hit the streets... the number of people who are really against this administration is huge. Think about it: how many Gore supporters are going to switch to Bush? (In case you forgot WE WON the popular vote 4 years ago). Think about it: are things really going to get better in Iraq, or for that matter in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, before November 2nd? There is a miasma of anger and dissatisfaction blanketing this country, and that does not bode well for an incumbent.

The slime-boat vets and other associated dirty tricks that have come (and surely there will be much more to come in the next 2 months) are a symptom of Bush's overall weakness, not his strength. But the American people are much smarter than most pundits, press-whores, and pollsters (and, I'm afraid, many DUers) believe.

And for those who don't think Kerry knows how to fight back, who have succumbed to the relentless propaganda that he's somehow spineless: just wait until this whole egregious farce of a convention is over. Then we'll see who knows how to throw a punch.

Ok I've said my bit, so flame away, friends...

[soothsayer]

1. I'm with you! Let 'em have their fun. It's their last hurrah in the

death throes of a waning administration.

The end is near for them....and the know it!!

bwa ha ha ha

[mmonk]

2. I've

got anger. When I see people driving cars with W bumper stickers, my anger shoots my blood pressure through the roof now. I need longer windshield washer blades.

[TriMetFan]

5. I try not to get mad,

I just say to myself " Poor Kool-aid drinking jerks". I feel sorry for them, cause when all is said and done, they are the cause "the Problem" with America and they don't even know it.

[stevedeshazer]

3. No flames here

I can't disagree with anything you've said. This reminds me very much of the 1992 RNC, also a disaster for the GOP.

They're shooting their wad prematurely. Now they go limp.

[freedom_to_read]

4. LOL maybe they need some of Dole's viagra after this <eom>

[Armstead]

No flame, but strong disagreement

This does have the potential to be Dukakis 2.

Keerry can't be "too good" to jump into the mosh pit, at this point. He doesn't need to be as dirty as the Repuglies, but this dignified "above it all" stance is not going to wash.

The Roveites are dealing with the subconscious. This isn;t about Swift Boats or voting records. It's about creating an image of Kerry as weak and indecisive and flaccid.

Kerry plays into their hand by not responding quick and strong.

[21winner]

7. Here it is!

Sofa bound rock boxers,whine,whine,whine.

[freedom_to_read]

8. I think he will respond...

aggressively, and soon. He's got an event planned tonight, right after Bush's speech. Unprecedented move, as far as I know.

I'm not saying he needs to pretend he's above the fray. I think he knows politics is a blood sport. (After all his political career has been in Mass which, despite --because?-- its Democratic strenth, is a pretty brutal political environment.)

I'm just saying all of this "oh no he's going to lose" stuff is both premature and an overreaction. And worse, it's counterproductive to lose hope.

:-)

[Armstead]

6. Double post

[BillZBubb]

9. Two points of contention:

1)"...the American people are much smarter than most pundits, press-whores, and pollsters (and, I'm afraid, many DUers) believe."

I am one of those who think the American people are ignorant and therefore cannot make smart decisions. As evidence, I point to presidents Reagan, Bush I, and Bush* II. None of them should have ever gotten close to the White House. Further proof is that the worst president since Hoover now has a lead or is very close in the polls. Sorry, but the public is easily mislead. That's a fact.

2) "...we'll see who knows how to throw a punch"

I think that's what we have been clamoring for--Kerry to start fighting back seriously. Sure, Kerry and Edwards have been fighting back, but it's been a series of ineffective, uncoordinated jabs. There is no sense of unity in their attack. They need to bring ALL their guns to bear on one issue at a time and hammer it until the pundits are sick of hearing about it. Then hammer it some more.

Anyway, I hope you are right. I hope Kerry does know how to fight back. But, I haven't seen any evidence that convinces me he does.

[freedom_to_read]

10. My response to #1

amBushed (great name by the way)...

Regarding (1), I was referring, specifically, to the Swift Boat issue. In the long run I don't think the majority Americans are going to be taken in by it. Polls already show more people think Bush is behind them than not. And if they were as devastating as people seem to think, we'd see a much bigger plummet in Kerry's numbers than we really are. I think that we are seeing a certain innoculation of the American people to this kind of shenanigan. (At LONG last.)

On a more general level, while I certainly have no love for any of the Reagan and Bush administrations, I don't think they in themselves constitute proof (or even evidence) that Americans "cannot make smart decisions." Decision based more on perceived self-interest than the perceived common good, perhaps; even decisions based on a "morality" that I find overly restrictive. In short, decisions that you and I disagree with, but that doesn't mean the ones making them are ignorant or stupid.

And I don't think it helps the progressive movement or the Democrats to assume some kind of intellectual superiority over their fellow citizens.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we -- or Kerry -- can just sit back and wait for victory. On the contrary, we have to be more proactive than ever in order to put this shameful bunch of thugs out to pasture. We DO have a lot stacked against us: not just money and the traditional advantages of incumbency, but also a media that ranges from outright slanted to embarassingly compliant to Republican bullying. As I've said before, this election will NOT be won "on the air," but "on the ground." But defeatism and second-guessing our candidate doesn't help to inspire this kind of activism. As a matter of fact it plays right into the hands of the Bushniks.

(That last bit wasn't directed at you per se, just returning to my theme...)