February 25, 2004
Bushies come out of gate
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
President George Bush is fighting back.
Uneasy about the Democratic primaries, where various contenders for his job are sniping at him with impunity, Bush has evidently been persuaded to start his re-election campaign early.
Not that he's ever stopped campaigning.
But now it's official. His speech at a fundraiser for the Republican Governors Association showcased a different Bush from the one of four years ago who was trying to crack the establishment.
Now his is the establishment.
You could almost hear sighs of relief among Republicans and Bushies that their guy was foregoing the high road and starting to mix it up.
It was Little Howard Dean who cast the first stone by directly attacking Bush. Other Democrats joined in when lightning didn't strike Dean in the form of public disapproval. Then Dean self-immolated.
Sen. John Kerry has been the most vociferous -- with the best credentials. He seems to view every criticism as a slur on his patriotism and misses no opportunity to remind folks that he was a hero in Vietnam, where Bush didn't even go.
Until Bush's speech, opinion polls showed both Kerry and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards are preferred to Bush.
That's not a big deal at the moment, but worrisome enough that the Republican brain trust has kick-started the president's re-election campaign early. Usually the sitting president waits until the other party's candidate has been chosen.
Not this time.
In his Washington speech, Bush was confident, polished, in control and enjoying himself. Four years ago, he was tentative, albeit more likable than Al Gore, supposedly a hotshot debater.
Kerry, for all his Democratic support, is not what could be called folksy. He's stiff, lugubrious, the antithesis of a "good ole boy." Little spontaneous humour or wit, which voters like.
Although not mentioning him by name, Bush's quips were clearly aimed at Kerry -- almost as if lobbying to ensure Kerry gets the nomination, not Edwards, who is far more threatening.
While there's been speculation that Dick Cheney may not be the vice-presidential choice, Bush exploited that by joking that Cheney is heading the vice-presidential search committee, and has come up with the same recommendation he made in 2000.
That brought down the house -- as did Bush's remark that the November election "is a choice between an America that leads the world with strength and confidence or an America that is uncertain in the face of danger."
Kerry is vulnerable because of his fluctuating vote record. He changes direction often -- against the Iraq war, for the war, against the war again, against defence spending, for the Patriot Act, against the Patriot Act, insisting the U.S. military should only be deployed under UN auspices, then changing his mind.
Kerry enabled Bush to proclaim he would never "outsource" national security to other governments, which earned him cheap accolades.
While it's easy to appeal to a partisan audience, this relaxed, funny, mischievous but assured Bush will be awkward for the Democrats to undermine -- rather as Ronald Reagan was.
Although Bush is no Reagan, John Kerry's demeanour makes Bush seem more Reaganesque than he is.
Anyway, the Republicans are now fighting back, and it seems obvious it's Kerry they want to fight, not the unknown quality of John Edwards.
A postscript: In my column Monday about Ralph Nader running for the presidency, I quoted him saying there are 100,000 Americans who don't vote who, if mobilized, can "change the equation in America."
He didn't say 100,000. That was my typo. He said "100 million Americans." Sorry, folks. Sorry, Ralph.
As for Nader, Al Sharpton's criticism that he must be "an egomaniac" to run was appropriate. It takes one to known one.
canoe.ca |
