Theme of Fear Plays (fear of Bush and lostcivil rights vs fear of terror)

[papau]

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB109398916236706171,00.html?mod=todays%5Ffree%5Ffeature


CAPITAL JOURNAL
By JOHN HARWOOD

Theme of Fear Plays
Key Role in Election
And May Favor Bush
September 1, 2004; Page A6

NEW YORK -- The second day of the Republican National Convention trumpeted "compassion." But that comforting theme, like the Democrats' focus on "optimism" in Boston in July, can't obscure the fact that the leitmotif of the 2004 election is fear.

Fear of terrorism forms the emotional backdrop of this convention, which is being held only a few miles from Ground Zero, and of the entire Republican campaign. It was the rationale for John McCain's argument that the Iraq war was necessary, and for Rudy Giuliani's assertion that Americans can't afford the risk of a weak and vacillating John Kerry presidency.

Democrats are doing the same thing, in their own way. They warn of danger from George W. Bush himself -- to American security and civil liberties alike. The election may turn on which side more effectively turns menace to its advantage.

That isn't how candidates or their handlers like to describe their campaign strategies. They much prefer, at least publicly, to herald uplifting notes like the "Man from Hope" theme Bill Clinton invoked in 1992.

But campaign operatives understand that, when real voters decide what to do, that isn't what works best. Voters remember negative information about candidates more than positive information. If American politics resembles a tight baseball game at Yankee Stadium, fear is the cleanup hitter.<snip>

[klook]

1. Tricky strategy

More Americans are inclined to fear "furriners" than their own president--in spite of the fact that it's the domestic threat that's much greater today.