Friday, May 28, 2004

Back in Fashion

To Tell the Truth

As Paul Krugman points out today, it's finally back in fashion to question the president's actions. The normally gun-shy press has been leaping all over the administration lately, uncovering more and more evidence that those of us who never trusted Bush and his cronies have been right all along.

For all of us, I'd like to just say this: We wish we hadn't been so right about this, because it would have been better for the country--but we were, OK? So can we finally do something about it and get rid of this bozo in November?

(While you're reading the Times today, check out Bob Herbert's column on Al Gore's speech this week--and why we should be paying attention.)

3 comments:

Jonathan said...

So i was also reading the times today and was wondering. Do you think Kerry talks too much about vietnam, and him being in it? I do not think he is relating to our generation as well as he should.

Richard said...

Without a doubt, Kerry needs to do a better job of getting his message to people in our age bracket, for whom Vietnam is a memory from history class rather than raw experience. His equivocating style, which the Kerryisms feature in Slate is making fun of every day, isn't going to get it done, though. Maybe he should make one of the main jobs of his VP candidate--assuming it's John Edwards--to connect with and inspire young, disaffected voters. If a speech by Edwards can't get you revved up enough to get out and vote, you're pretty much a lost cause, right?

Kerry should also make it clear that he's thought about the issues that face young people in 2004, not 1971, and show that he has thoughtful proposals to make things better for a generation that, for the first time, doesn't have a realistic shot at achieving greater financial success than our parents--and has the debt accumulated by those parents, under the leadership of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, to worry about paying off. If he made a sophisticated, thoughtful pitch to voters in our demographic, I think Kerry could up his numbers considerably by bringing people to the polls who otherwise won't vote at all. That could be decisive for him.

Jonathan said...

Edwards also does not look and talk like old money!