Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Kerry’s bad week

Conventional wisdom says that George Bush has had a terrible two weeks. The president has been taking a pounding in the mainstream media and has slid a little in some polls. But now, it turns out, John Kerry is the one who is getting worried. First was the Bush news conference, which again showed the president’s great strength: plain-spoken seriousness that Americans instinctively trust. Add to that, as Peter mentions below, the New York Times reports that the Bush campaign ads seem to have started to take a long-term toll by defining Kerry "as a waffling tax-and-spend liberal," especially among suburban voters in swing states.

And Kerry’s problem is not just about reaching swing voters: he also has some difficulties with his base. He went to Howard University, where he received "tepid applause, particularly on questions about race." Then he had a meeting with Cardinal McCarrick, who heads a Church panel deciding whether there should be penalties against Catholic politicians who support policies that are opposed to Church doctrines on matters like abortion. What will happen when he has to face the kind of media scrutiny Bush did this week?

Discussions - 2 Comments

It seems that Kerry believes he is going to discredit Bush with words such as these:

"Everything he did in Iraq, he’s going to try to persuade people it has to do with terror, even though everybody knows that it had nothing to do with al-Qaida and everything to do with an agenda that was preset," Kerry said.

If Spain was bombed by Al Qaida because of their involvement in Iraq, how can one say that Iraq has nothing to do with terror?

The meeting of Kerry and McCarrick is probably more significant for the bishops than it is for Kerry. How many now leaning towards Kerry will not vote for him if he is excommunicated? He might pick up votes.

But the bishops must decide if they’re Democrats first or Catholic bishops first. The problem for them is less Kerry’s voting record than his mis-representation of Church teaching.

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