Bush Bumbling
There’s gotta be some kind of conspiracy against George Junior, at least he’s gotta think so. The poor fellow can’t get a break anywhere. Every new strategy meets with a new defeat. I don’t blame him for casting his net ever wider, what with the election looking like it’s running ever faster away from him. Polls show him falling double-digits behind The Wooden One in places like Michigan and Pennsylvania. Colorado, normally a Republican state, is moving into the Dem column, and Florida, where Brother Jeb is governor, is also climbing aboard the donkey.
And there doesn’t seem to be anything that Bush-Lite can do about it. Indeed, his campaign seems beyond incapable of staunching the outflow of support. From their actions, they appear committed to widening the gap. Not necessarily with deliberation, but sometimes. Like the brouhaha they created when they said they didn’t want to use the normal debate format. Of course they had to back down, which made them look dumb not once but twice.
Then there was the vulgarity tossed at the New York Times reporter. And the television commercial with the word "rats" on the screen, a questionable reference to the Democrats. Bush-Lite denied it was deliberate; four times he referred to it as a "subliminable" message. Being in the television producing business myself, I would aver that if you think that the "rats" got into the commercial unintentionally, I’d like to sell you a nice bridge to Brooklyn.
My colleague Raymond F. DeVoe writes about being nibbled to death by ducks, which is what Junior must be feeling these days. There was the story of Cheney’s dealings with Halliburton, and the promise of millions waiting for him down the road. The news that Cheney hadn’t voted in 14 of the last 16 elections. And the report that Bush himself was on the board of Silver Screen Management, which had produced films that included a hitchhiker who rips a woman in half.
Of course, even though Bush is sliding from slipping to free-fall, the fat lady hasn’t yet sung. Not by a long shot. There are many banana peels out there, for both campaigns. Gore could get cocky, and the Tennessean does not look good in smug. I’m thinking back to the first term when the Veep was on Larry King’s show discussing NAFTA with Ross Perot. The Texas Pint was making himself look ridiculous, so it didn’t look good when Young Al came off talking condescendingly to him. If Gore does that during the debates -- speaking of banana peels -- it could be very costly for him.
What’s most significant about this election is the quality of the thinking among the electorate. They might like Bush better, but after giving him a good look, they don’t think he is the better choice for president. I think that’s a very hopeful sign that people are paying serious attention. Regardless of your politics — be you liberal or conservative — it’s hard not to recognize that Bush isn’t up to the job. It’s hard to argue that point after the man has already spent more than $100 million dollars on his campaign, and people are leaving in droves.
And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.