Kerry Of The Leash
From The New York Times
By David Brooks
Op-Ed
October 19, 2004
John Kerry wasn't nominated because of his sparkling personality. … He was nominated because he's a fighter. At the end of every campaign he comes out brawling. …
So nobody could imagine how incompetent, crude and over-the-top Kerry has been in this final phase of the campaign. … Incredibly, Kerry is launching attacks that play up doubts voters have about him. … [H]e has underscored the feeling that he will say or do anything to further his career.
In so doing, he has managed to squelch any momentum he may have had … The blunt truth is that Kerry is losing the final phase of this campaign. …
On Monday, Kerry told seniors in Florida that Bush is plotting a "January surprise" to cut their Social Security benefits by as much as 45 percent. …
As Kerry knows, that's ludicrous … President Bush has not entertained and would not entertain any plan that cut benefits to seniors. …
Kerry's second wild attack is that Bush would reinstate the draft. The administration … does not want to bring back the draft. The Pentagon does not want to bring back the draft. The Republican Party does not want to bring back the draft. …
Kerry's third attack is the whole Mary Cheney thing. … [R]emarkably, Kerry has not apologized. … The only decent thing is to apologize. …
The fourth assault is Kerry's attack on the Bush administration's supposed "ban" on stem cell research. John Edwards's ludicrous statement that if Kerry was president, people like Christopher Reeve would be able to get up and walk was only the farcical culmination of a series of exaggerations …
Bush's key vulnerability is that people fear he is in over his head. By lashing out wildly, Kerry muddles all that. Instead his blunderbuss approach suggests a candidate devoid of perspective, driven by unattractive and naked ambition.
Why is he doing this? First, because in the insular Democratic world, George Bush is presumed to be guilty of everything, so the more vicious you can be about him, the better everybody feels.
But there is a deeper assumption … Some Democrats have been unable to face the reality that people have been voting for Republicans because they agree with them. …
The truth, however, is that voters are not idiots. … If you attack your opponent wildly, ruthlessly, they will come to their own conclusions.
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