[thechat] conclusive proof: Bush is a liar
Erik Mattheis
gozz at gozz.com
Thu Sep 23 15:54:27 CDT 2004
On Thursday, September 23, 2004, at 09:50 AM, Ashok Hariharan wrote:
> I read somewhere that Bush actually won the presidential debates
> against
> Al Gore. How the heck did he manage that?!
Bush is great at coming off as a saint to unskeptical people. When he
knows what he's going to want to say, he has broad "common sense"
answers ready and he presents his ideas really well ... he doesn't
bother addressing details, but rather always takes the "view from
50,000 feet". And a lot of people like that in a leader - it makes
people feel confident that he is in control.
The problem he'll have to overcome in the upcoming debates is that he's
up against his own record. He won't be able to say, "A peaceful and
democratic Iraq will serve as a beacon of freedom in a long troubled
region" without Kerry responding that because Bush invaded Iraq,
creating a peaceful Iraq is indeed something the US has to do, but
Bush's cowboy justice from 50,000 feet is not working - it's making
Iraq _less_ peaceful.
If there are no major gaffes, I have the feeling that the debates will
be seen as won by whichever candidate people already support. And
undecided voters will be more confident of their gut instinct.
There are a lot more undecided voters than current polls would lead you
to believe - if you look at their internals, about 15-20% of people say
they may yet change their vote, including a good deal of people who say
they'd vote for Bush in the election was held "today".
That can only work to help Kerry - when an incumbent is up for
reelection, people first decide if they want to keep the incumbent, and
if they have any question wether he should stay or go, they then decide
whether the incumbent is better than the challenger. There's lots of
people that have reservations about Bush - the trick for Kerry is to
convince people they are right to have reservations, and then present
an alternative they would prefer.
--
Erik Mattheis
http://fearofclowns.com/
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