Can Bush Win?

[Nicholas_J]

Can Bush Win?
NO
The inability to quiet Iraq and to deliver broad-based prosperity has damaged Bush among swing voters

Mark Hertsgaard
Sunday, August 29, 2004



At the height of his power, Joseph McCarthy appeared to be invincible. Beginning in 1950, the senator from Wisconsin made a name for himself by waving around documents supposedly listing hundreds of communists employed by the U.S. government.

For the next four years, no one in official Washington dared stand up to McCarthy for fear of being called communist. But in 1954, drunk with power, McCarthy went too far: He attacked the U.S. Army. The Washington establishment soon turned against him as an unsteady extremist, and within months, the Senate had censured him, ending his career.

Fifty years later, George W. Bush is about to suffer a similar fate.

Bush, too, looked invincible after the Sept. 11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan. With help from his advisers, Bush, too, intimidated critics into silence by challenging their patriotism. And he, too, eventually over-reached, insisting on a war in Iraq that has now blown up in his face.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/29/INGFF8B03D24.DTL

[krkaufman]

1. Stick a FORK in him, he's done. n/t

[are_we_united_yet]

2. Jeez I hope not

[ramapo]

3. Watch out! YES he can

Bush and the Republicans are masters at deception and propaganda. The SBVT have proven the old adage, "Repeat a lie enough times and it becomes the truth".

This issue is by no means the end of the crap that these guys will throw against the wall. They just need some of it to stick.

Kerry has done a pretty good job striking back. I'm fairly confident but there are a lot of confused people out there who could vote Bush.

Spend money and time to help Kerry and all Democrats.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. According to the talking heads on CNN bush has already won

based on his great leadership qualities, according to them, it's all that matters now.

[Cha]

14. Oh, that we could send cnn back

to crawford with bush and picklebrain!

[tandot]

5. There is no way that Bush will win.

...I'll go personally to every poor neighborhood in our town to drive people who don't have a car so they can vote...

Democrats are so determined...they'll make it possible

[Kierkegaard]

6. Bye-bye Bugsy

Don't forget not to write, k?

I believe the level of intelligence of the average American is being 'misunderestimated' by Rove & Co. The blatant lies this administration are trying to get us to swallow are either egregiously stupid or a calculated risk that Americans are too stupid/lazy to ferret out the truth. Either way, they will need cab fare after November 2. Their force field is about to wear off.

[dumpster_baby]

7. Of COURSE Bush could win

Anyone can see over the past month that the GOP media manipulation machine and campaign tactics are superior to that of the dems.

Of course, the dems may come back and go after bush with blood in their eyes, but I think it is mostly going to be up to the voters to do the job that the Dems cannot or will not do.

I think Kerry will win. I just hope that somehow the dems can get ahold of the senate and house in in november and in 2006.....because that is what is really important.

[TexasSissy]

9. Yes, * could win. This race will be tight to the end. God help us.

Kerry MUST win.

[meti57b]

10. exactly! The republicans aren't in business to lose elections.

[senseandsensibility]

8. Thanks for posting!

Great article! I love the last sentence.

[Cha]

11. Love this article! So mccarthy "attacked the

US Army"? Give them enough Rope..A Dope!

Great! Mark Hertsgaard compares bush to joe mccarthy's downfall!

"Contrary to some Democrats' fears, even another terrorist attack might not save Bush, for many Americans would ask why he had not better prepared the nation's defenses over the past three years."

This is what I've been saying..If we have a terrorist attack before the election..it's just one more time that bush hasn't protected America!

[ochazuke]

12. Forgetting something?

An Al Quaeda attack on American soil would have the immediate result of boosting shrubya's approval ratings. Although it wouldn't take as long for that rating to fall back as after 9/11, if it happens close to the election, that won't matter.

Isn't it amazing that people didn't question why the CinC just sat there when told "America is under attack!"

[Cha]

15. Did you not read the Whole ariticle?

"Contrary to some Democrats' fears, even another terrorist attack might not save Bush, for many Americans would ask why he had not better prepared the nation's defenses over the past three years."

This is what I've been saying..If we have a terrorist attack before the election..it's just one more time that bush hasn't protected America!

[ochazuke]

16. Stupefyingly poor understanding of human nature

The initial reaction will, I guarantee you*, be to back Bush. Yes, after the shock wears off, there will be questions. But, I think if an Al Qaeda attack hit tomorrow, it would hand the election to Bush.

Although almost three years have passed since 9/11, the public largely ignored Richard Clarke's damning indictment of Bush's counter-terrorism record, and polls unfailingly give Bush higher marks than Kerry on the 'war on terror.' I know, it's crazy stuff, but they think Bush has balls. We DUers know he's a total S*** A** rich boy with a phoney Texas accent. The rest of the country (60% or so) won't ever figure that out. With luck, their grandchildren will learn what a failure he was in their history books.

--------
* footnote: The core Bush backers would be solid for him. Plus those really strange people who don't pay attention to the news yet vote -- the people who are easy prey to a clever TV spot -- who "vote their pocketbooks" -- who "make up their minds in the voting booth" -- these wierdos will break for Bush like 5 to 1. So the election would be like 54-44 for Bush.

[renotyme]

18. a CIA attack would also hand the keys to shrub

be afraid, be very afraid.

a 'terrorist' attack by hired CIA thugs would also keep dumbya in the command seat. much as the reichstag fire cemented hitler's rule.

if the attack were serious enough, it might also result in martial law. dont put it past rove, etal. to take out the supreme court. then dumbya packs the house, and you can kiss our civil rights goodbye for the next fifty years.

you're not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

[PurityOfEssence]

13. Yes

Drive things down far enough, and when they rebound a bit, it's a recovery.

Iraq may simmer down for a moment now that Sistani's back, and the casualty rate may slow down. Couple this with the fact that the right is adept at skewing economic data, and the two big issues are gone.

Inject more and more uncertainty and fear about Kerry's forthright and steadfast leadership, and you've got people in a "the devil I know or the devil I don't know" situation.

They can pick and choose from Kerry's record, and they will continue to do so.

Then there's electronic voting in places like Florida and Ohio, which should shiver your timbers; they know where they have to win.

Then there's the depth of treason, greed and criminality in which they've engaged; they simply HAVE TO WIN to avoid being busted.

Never underestimate these people. They only have to keep a lid on things for two more months and fight a delaying action. The jobs reports will hurt, but they'll cite other economic data that favors them. Gas prices are all the Democrats faults for not acting on the Energy Plan. Health care is all John Edwards' fault. The environment won't even be an issue. Then again, there's the traditional Reaganite tough-guy approach: it's the best country that ever existed, and if you aren't making it, you're a defective. You're not a defective are you? Are you French? This administration is made up of grownups; godly people like this are your only hope.

This close two months out and you seriously think there's not a chance for them to win? Think again.

It's not over by a long shot, though, and we have a good shot here, even with all their power.

[Strelnikov_]

17. Win Fair and Square? Probably Not, History Is Against Him

Steal it through BBV, GEMS, in the courts, etc., maybe. Probably his best chance at this point.

[tibbir]

19. Please say it couldn't happen

but I was here in Texas when he won the election with a popular govenor just by a smear campaign suggesting that she and people in her administration were lesbians. People shouldn't be affected by these smear campaigns but * and Rove have successfully used them time and time again.

Then there is the problem of BBV.

[Droopy]

20. Can Bush win? Yes.

That's why articles saying he can't are counter productive. They give us a false sense of security. It's up to us, every single one of us to do whatever we can to get Kerry in the White House.

[Nicholas_J]

21. This is an American Newspaper questioning whetther BUsh can win

But reading the foreign media, particularly the British press the indications are that Bush is losing to Kerry, and is reacting in a really poorly calculated way to try to overturn Kerry's lead. The Economics, The Londin Times, The Mancester Guardian are all filled witth articles stating that Bush is losing to Kerry, and his behaviour is showing panic at the situation. I have a little old PDA with links to all of the text based newspaper pages from all over Europe, and I turn thd thing on first thing in the morning and just before goiing to bed and go over all all of the new articles I can find in the American Press and the British and European press on the political situation in the U.S. and find that the Europeans have a quite different view of the situation where Bush is in serious trouble, and that Kerry is sitting pretty. The Bits think that Kerry has actively neutralized the effects of the Swift Boat Adsm adn in fact, these Ads are beginning to have an adverse effect on the BUsh Administration, that5 people beleive that Bush is behind them. They note BUsh's suddent return to the ideals of "CONPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM" bringing in tons of moderate Republicans to the Convention, peoplec who have spent the last few years fighting the Bush machine, but who now support it out of party unity. TOns os stuff that they beleive indicates Bush is losing to Kerry, and that the recent changes in the polls are little variations that are already beginning to reverse again.

Only the San Francisco paper has the moxy to bring this out in the press.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

22. It seems unlikely

[molly]

23. He would if he STOLE like last time

but in a fair fight - he won't.