Bush, Kerry and battling adjectives
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Why does that show up at the top of my blog entry? Did I do that? I'm feeling a little more in control of this tool today- like the new format and look. And I'm happy to have that photo of us on the beach at dusk. It's one in a long running series of photos taken by holding a camera at arm's length whereever we happen to be and clicking. It gives a uniform character to the 'we were here' composition....and some are very funny. Well, maybe you had to be there.
OK. So I am fiercely interested in this Presidential tussle we're involved in. You wouldn't guess it to read my earlier entries but I am. Today I was listening to the news soundbites on NPR and I had a sudden 'aha'. Kerry's going to lose because his ideas are more complicated and many people don't want to have to think through a position. Example: Bush accuses Kerry of waffling because his positions have changed over time. So the crowd fires back 'yeah, he's a waffler'. I wonder how many CEOs of successful corporations would say that they never changed their positions over the past four years? My guess. None. Another word for 'waffling' is 'flexibility'. And flexibility is an essential skill of successful leadership. And by corollary, Kerry is failing to nail Bush hard enough for being 'inflexibile, dogmatic, rigid, stubborn' etc......qualities that are absolute killers to leadership. Who's adjectives will win? Right now, I'd give GWB the lead. Example: Bush hits Kerry for voting two ways on a defense bill. (sadly can't remember the citation). Truth the matter is, this happens all the time. If GWB had ever been in a legislative position, his record would be as vulnerable. The game in legislative circles is commonly to push a bill for 'mom and apple pie' but attach language that 'sells American forest to the Japanese' or something. And so there's a fight over it, the majority party manages to bring it to the floor and force a vote, the vote fails because the bill is poison, but now those who voted against it are vulnerable to attack. They voted against Mom and Apple Pie. It's a more complicated concept than most people get or want to think about. And Kerry has been a legislator long enough to be very very vulnerable on that score. Can he fight back? Whaddya say to the average voter that doesn't sound like a long winded excuse? Example: Kerry says he would still vote to give the Prez the power to wage war in Iraq. Kerry says knowing what he knows now he wouldn't have gone to war in Iraq as Bush did. Bush says Kerry is 'swinging in the wind'. Kerry draws the intelligent distinction between giving the President authority- which allows him to carry a big stick in negotiations- and actually using the big stick. I think this is a nuance that most voters aren't following.
So as we start this new week, I am hoping that the toe to toe debates might change things. Otherwise, I think George takes this one on simple ideas for the 'common folk' with a down home drawl and a back pocket full of oil money.
We're checking the price of plane tickets to Greece. I'm thinking that I might even want to spend a few years away from this mess.
Enough already. It's time to figure out something lovely to eat. Have another glass of red wine. And try to let go of some of this cynicism which constipates what is otherwise a wonderful world.
Why does that show up at the top of my blog entry? Did I do that? I'm feeling a little more in control of this tool today- like the new format and look. And I'm happy to have that photo of us on the beach at dusk. It's one in a long running series of photos taken by holding a camera at arm's length whereever we happen to be and clicking. It gives a uniform character to the 'we were here' composition....and some are very funny. Well, maybe you had to be there.
OK. So I am fiercely interested in this Presidential tussle we're involved in. You wouldn't guess it to read my earlier entries but I am. Today I was listening to the news soundbites on NPR and I had a sudden 'aha'. Kerry's going to lose because his ideas are more complicated and many people don't want to have to think through a position. Example: Bush accuses Kerry of waffling because his positions have changed over time. So the crowd fires back 'yeah, he's a waffler'. I wonder how many CEOs of successful corporations would say that they never changed their positions over the past four years? My guess. None. Another word for 'waffling' is 'flexibility'. And flexibility is an essential skill of successful leadership. And by corollary, Kerry is failing to nail Bush hard enough for being 'inflexibile, dogmatic, rigid, stubborn' etc......qualities that are absolute killers to leadership. Who's adjectives will win? Right now, I'd give GWB the lead. Example: Bush hits Kerry for voting two ways on a defense bill. (sadly can't remember the citation). Truth the matter is, this happens all the time. If GWB had ever been in a legislative position, his record would be as vulnerable. The game in legislative circles is commonly to push a bill for 'mom and apple pie' but attach language that 'sells American forest to the Japanese' or something. And so there's a fight over it, the majority party manages to bring it to the floor and force a vote, the vote fails because the bill is poison, but now those who voted against it are vulnerable to attack. They voted against Mom and Apple Pie. It's a more complicated concept than most people get or want to think about. And Kerry has been a legislator long enough to be very very vulnerable on that score. Can he fight back? Whaddya say to the average voter that doesn't sound like a long winded excuse? Example: Kerry says he would still vote to give the Prez the power to wage war in Iraq. Kerry says knowing what he knows now he wouldn't have gone to war in Iraq as Bush did. Bush says Kerry is 'swinging in the wind'. Kerry draws the intelligent distinction between giving the President authority- which allows him to carry a big stick in negotiations- and actually using the big stick. I think this is a nuance that most voters aren't following.
So as we start this new week, I am hoping that the toe to toe debates might change things. Otherwise, I think George takes this one on simple ideas for the 'common folk' with a down home drawl and a back pocket full of oil money.
We're checking the price of plane tickets to Greece. I'm thinking that I might even want to spend a few years away from this mess.
Enough already. It's time to figure out something lovely to eat. Have another glass of red wine. And try to let go of some of this cynicism which constipates what is otherwise a wonderful world.
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