it seems odd to me, but George W Bush is seeming more and more the sacrificial lamb of America. Caught betwixt corporate interest, ultra-conservative isolationists, and his fundamentalist Christian supporters, his policies can't cover all the bases. If oil prices and inflation rise, he's one misstep away from being the Republican Jimmy Carter: Well meaning but inept, swept aside for the politician of the moment. In Carter's case, that was Ronald Reagan, who seduced the people with his eternal optimism, hard-line Cold War tactics, and military reinvigoration. The Good Son of the moment would seem to be Kerry, who appeals (if secretly) to many in the electorate, for several reasons:
- He's liberal. It's easier to be relativistic during tough times; after all, what's more important, Gay marriage, or the war on terror? I'd argue equal importance in different ways, but in simple rhetoric, Kerry has an edge here. [sarcasm]And really, those hard morality questions are, well, hard, so let's not deal with them...[/sarcasm]
- He's the scion of the Clinton era. We all remember the 90's: Jobs, money, booming economy, relative peace. We all want to be back there, surely! Elect a democrat and forget the ugliness of Bush. Yeah, more like "Sign your soul away for the easy way out...."
- He's pro-labor. If anything, this will win him the election. Outsourcing is killing or maiming Bush's consitutency: Upper middle class, white-collar folks who live comfortably doing jobs they thought were secure. Kerry has come-out against outsourcing and I find this attractive. If Bush would do it, I'd carry his banner to the highest tree. As is, it seems he's more pro-corporation than pro-worker. The election will swing on whether these people vote conscience or pocketbook, and we know what happened in '92.
- He's a powerful speaker. From Pericles on, oration has been the key to any form of representative government One must rally support to policies, ideals, causes, and here Kerry and Bush are opposites. While Kerry speaks well but has poor follow-through, Bush speaks badly, but has good policies
- Conservative backlash. IMHO, the tide of conservative America is ebbing: As the staunch conservatives (who used to be liberals, BTW) age, the backfill of voters are relativistic slackers who can't get past their Playstations and BlingBling. Further, conservative media is becoming a constant din of strawman and yellow journalism: Rush, Shawn Hannity, Michael Savage, et al. find new ways to be not so much conservatives as Anti-Liberals. It's a turn-off to me. I much prefer Bill O'Reilly, though he has his own agenda. Upshot: The vocal and motivated are now the Liberals and Democrats, not the Republicans.
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