So should we assume Bush and Edwards are the respective vice-presidential candidates in this election?

ok, ep

Posted by: elvispresley2k at October 31, 2004 10:18 AM

ELECTION IS HERE: TIME TO BOTTOM LINE IT

This election is a referendum on Bush. If he’s bad, then it’s time to give the new guy Kerry a chance. If not, then let Bush have four more years.

KEY AREAS OF BUSH RECORD ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10

BUSH RECORD ON TERRORISM – 2 OUT OF 10:

• BIN LADEN ON THE LOOSE. Why the heck hasn’t public enemy number one been caught yet??? The reason is Bush took his eye off the ball and invaded Iraq before finishing the job of catching bin Laden. To the point, by March 13, 2002 Bush said, according to an official White House transcript “I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.” Now the President says he wants bin Laden dead or alive. This is a huge FLIP FLOP on one of the most important issues facing our country.
  
• TERRORISM ON THE RISE. Never before have so many US and foreign troops and citizens died from terrorist attacks in Iraq and elsewhere. And the numbers are increasing. Bush hasn’t focused our military resources in the relentless push that is needed to completely dismantle al Qaeda. As a consequence, now the President admits it’s not a matter of if the next terrorist attack will occur against the US, but when. BOTTOM LINE: BAD JOB FOR BUSH.

BUSH RECORD ON IRAQ – 1 OUT OF 10.

• IRAQ WAS A MISTAKE. The reason Bush rushed us into war – that Iraq supposedly has weapons of mass destruction – was all wrong. Major major major mistake. For that kind of mistake, the buck has got to stop with the President.

• IRAQ IS A MESS THAT IS NOT BEING CLEANED UP. Iraqis can’t travel safely in their own streets. Iraqis avoid being near foreigners because of the risk of attack. Whole sections of Iraq are lawless war zones. Terrorism is increasing each month. Infrastructure is still in shambles. Why is the Iraq situation declining from bad to worse? The reason is we never had a decent plan to secure the peace in that country. Another bad mistake.

• WE TORTURED INNOCENT IRAQIS. We disgraced ourselves. Bush says we are bringing Democracy to Iraq. Then we round up innocent people without adequate proof of wrongdoing, nearly all of whom have since been released, and subject them to bizarre torture aimed at violating their deepest religious mores. Sadly, this is not surprising since Bush has said we are not following the Geneva Convention, which protects our troops and citizens from outrageous conduct such as beheadings. Instead, in doublespeak, Bush’s administration said we are following “the principles of” the Geneva Convention. Even more shocking, no senior administration official such as Rumsfeld has been shown the door.

• DID WE INVADE THE RIGHT COUNTRY? At the same time we were invading Iraq, North Korea already had nuclear weapons and was building more. Iran was busily obtaining nuclear weapons. Lot’s of people are asking if we invaded the right country. Was Iraq really that urgent? Should we have gone into Iran or North Korea? Or nowhere! BOTTOM LINE: BAD CHOICES, BAD JOB FOR BUSH.

BUSH RECORD ON THE ECONOMY: 3 OUT OF 10.

• THE TAX CUT FAILED. Nice tax cut for the rich but it didn’t help the rest of the country. For the first time since Herbert Hoover’s administration, we lost more jobs than we created. Net net more than a million jobs are gone over the past four years. Even over the past several months during the so-called “recovery”, job creation hasn’t even kept up with population growth. Government deficits are out of control and we will be paying for them for years to come.

• TOO MANY AMERICANS ARE STRUGGLING. How are Americans getting by with rising health care and fuel costs? Not with much help from the government. There’s no help in the fuel area. The federal drug program is limited to seniors and is very hard to understand. This is really a drop in the bucket compared to Bush’s failure to make good on his promise to let everyone buy drugs from Canada. The President’s broken promise demonstrates that he holds the interests of big drug companies above those of the public. Drugs in Canada are the same drugs manufactured in the same factories as the drugs we take in the US. Whole communities have been forced to break the law by sponsoring bus trips to Canada to avoid their elderly and sick from becoming impoverished from the astronomical cost of drugs in the US.

BUSH ON SOCIAL ISSUES: 5 OUT OF 10.

• THE PRESIDENT HAS HELD THE LINE BUT IS DIVISIVE. Social issues are what is keeping the President afloat. The country is divided down the middle on social issues. There are reasonable arguments as well as misinformation on both sides of the aisle. It’s a shame Bush couldn’t build more unity, but you can’t blame him entirely for people being put off by his folksy swagger persona.

• OUT OF TOUCH ON STEM CELL RESEARCH. In a recent Annenberg poll in August, 64% favored and 28% disfavored use of embryos to conduct stem cell research. In the abortion debate, it’s a real live fetus lost on the one hand versus no health benefit for the mother. The stem cell debate balances a tiny embryo against health gains for millions of sick people. Bush says he is permitting stem cell research, but according to stem cell researchers, he really isn’t. There are only a few old and sick cell lines that can be used. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of embryos are frozen only to be ultimately discarded because it’s against the law to use them for stem cell research. If Bush gets elected, cures from stem cell research for millions of sick people are at least four more years away, and the US could lose the edge in this promising and potentially profitable field of research.

BOTTOM LINE: Bush’s record is weak. Time to give the new guy a chance. Kerry proved himself capable and Bush’s match during the debates. Many of the people hollering about Kerry should remember all the similar hollering about Clinton, who turned out to do a pretty good job for America. No big wars on Clinton’s watch. A great economy. At least four terrorist attacks averted by the Clinton administration through hard work leading up to the turn of the millennium, whereas the Bush administration ignored similar signs leading up to 9/11. Maybe that’s why bin Laden was so surprised that 9/11 exceeded all his expectations in running flawlessly.

Posted by: JD at October 31, 2004 11:58 AM

How could you stomach seeing all those America haters dancing in the streets of the Middle East in the event of a Kerry victory? The defeat of America - that is how they will see it. America will return to the glorious days of the Carter administration. Jihadis everywhere will be emboldened and sensible folk everywhere will despair.

The USA is not the equal of France or Germany or anyone else.. The USA leads the world and sets its own course. How do you think you became the richest and most powerful nation on the Earth? By passing a global test? Your enemies everywhere are praying that Kerry will win. Why give them the satisfaction?

Posted by: AngloAmerican at October 31, 2004 12:26 PM

JD, Many thanks for the Democratic talking points. Give me a break!

Posted by: gbl at October 31, 2004 02:44 PM

JD :

Your analysis is incomplete. What about doing the same for Kerry?

You know, the guy who voted against liberating Kuwait?
The guy who voted for across-the-board cuts to US intelligence funding after the first WTC attack?

I know this should be painfully obvious, but before you make a choice between two imperfect alternatives, you evaluate both of them, not just one.

Rather than air my own views once more, (which would be what we in oz call “Wanking”), what I’d really like to see is a thoughtful evaluation of Kerry, in at least as much detail as you’ve gone into over Bush. That’s not to say that I agree with your evaluation, but so what. I’m interested in what you have to say. Not just how wonderful Kerry is, but more importantly, why.

Posted by: aebrain at October 31, 2004 08:55 PM

aebrain, Don’t hold your breath waiting for a Kerry critique, it’s not forthcoming because it wasn’t in the talking points mailed out to JD.

The tax cuts are having an effect. Investment is up, revenue to the government is up. Employment is up. The US is crawling out of a recession that started over 4 years ago. It’s not as fast as some people would like, but it’s moving in the right direction.

Kerry will tax everyone - don’t believe the crap about only hitting those making over $200,000/year - his proposals on health care alone would be enough to bust the Treasury. Like Clinton promising a middle class tax cut (and substituting the largest tax increase in history), Kerry knows right now all that matters is winning the Presidency. He can pretty much do what he wants after that, and he would tax EVERYONE. He voted to tax SS benefits - that’s all you need to know.

Pray to God this guy doesn’t get elected.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at October 31, 2004 09:49 PM