I’ve heard that the Chicken robbed a bank and saved a baby at the same time.
Gen. Wesley Clark is gearing up. It isn’t official yet, but the fact that he’s putting the machinery in place has probably provoked some serious discussions in Rove’s office.
LBJ was a wartime president who couldn’t even win his party’s nomination. Wartime presidents are only as popular as the wars that they start.
JX:
no doubt gun issues provided a margin of victory for Bush in crucial states. But a lot of other things could have, too. Nader votes, had they gone to Gore in FL, would have tipped things in his favor. The same is definitely true for New Hampshire and arguably true in MO. Sending Clinton to campaign for Gore in AR and WV, many people felt, could have won those states. Enacting tougher steel protections, or at least talking about them more could have won Gore WV. Why are you singling out guns for some elevated importance for Gore? And why don’t you think that if Gore had been more pro-gun, it wouldn’t have depressed the turnout he did, in fact, receive?
“Notice all his speaches either have troops behind him, or very expensive graphics”
Which may come back to haunt him. I recall his trip to the carrier and the banners that read “Mission Accomplished” or some such nonsense. If American soilders are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan come 2004, or if another terrorist attack befalls the US between now and then, the Democrats would be foolish not to plaster every corner of the country with a picture of him in his flight suit, “Mission Accomplished” displayed prominently across the background, and wail on him for being either too stupid to notice that the mission ain’t accomplished, or too arrogant to say “Well, I may have overstated the case slightly…”
Bush’s fate will be determined by factors beyond his control. Some of these are:
The War on Terror: We make so much of every playing card that gets caught. What doesn’t get said is that there’s already a new deck out there! Get the al-Qaeda minister of finance, another will spring up to take his place. These people spring forth like weeds, and the Iraq War was like a massive dose of fertilizer.
The Economy: At some point, it will become evident that tax cuts do not stimulate the economy. Sometimes, you have to prime the pump a bit with some public works money. Cut taxes by billions for the rich, and the rich get fatter bank accounts without doing the rest of us any good. Spend billions on some public works, at the very least you create some good jobs and give a little boost to the economy. The dividend tax elimination is going to make US business less competitive in the global market. Now instead of investing corporate profits back into the business, the corporate boards of directors are going to help themselves to some tax free booty from the corporate kitty.
Future Terror Attacks: Depends what happens. If a massive attack comes and most of us think that it was preventable, then a yellow dog could beat Bush. If there is a horrific catastrophe that could not be prevented, Bush could benefit.
Iraq: Probably this more than anything. The half a dozen body bags per week with no end in sight are going to slowly but surely whittle away at Bush’s support, particularly if the infamous WMD prove to be a figment of faulty intelligence.