Maybe George just wants to go home?
I'm glad that it seems the Common Wisdom, even the Republican insta-spinners, said that Kerry beat Bush. Let's hope that stays true over the next 48 hours of media digestion. The latest media fads seem to be "fact-checking" and "substance, not style", so maybe the revisionism won't be as severe as with Gore/Bush.
Personally, I was disappointed in Kerry. Kerry was still not the candidate he could or should be. He could have done better. I was astonished at his seeming lack of preparation to easily rebuff Bush's stump-speech attack lines. It's a good thing that President Bush has been in hermetically-sealed criticism-free bubble, because if Bush hadn't been so simply nonplussed by someone criticizing him to his face, it would have been a far different debate. Kerry seemed very weak on exposing the nonsense of Bush's standard lines. And Bush making those attacks, unanswered, is what is getting played in the sound-bite version of the debate. Maybe this was a tactical choice by the Kerry camp, but I think it was a mistake.
However, Kerry does seem to have surpassed the "minimum Presidential-ness" threshold for many viewers, which seems to be his objective. I'm buoyed by the idea that there are many out there who want to dump Bush, but need to know Kerry is at least OK, first. I think they got that last night.
But there are a couple of more subtle points that are on my mind following the debate. First, Bush really wants credit for working hard, and seemed oddly unconcerned about the results of all that hard work. Sadly, I believe most would agree that it's results that matter. Presidents, as opposed to legacy Yalies, or West Texas oilmen with rich family friends, get judged by what they actually DID, not what they wanted to do, or whether their heart is pure, or any of the other things Bush seemed to suggest mattered.
Second, not only did he want credit just for trying, he spent an awful lot of time repeating how "hard" everything was. It's hard fighting in Iraq. It's hard deciding to go to Iraq. It's hard running homeland defense. It's hard working with the FBI. It's hard fighting the Baathists we let get away so they could fight us now. It's hard getting casualty reports. It's hard watching how hard it is on TV. It's hard going from tyranny to democracy. It's hardest comforting the loved ones left behind; it's hard to "try to love her as best as I can". It's again hard in Iraq. It's hard training Iraqis. It's hard to stand up to a determined enemy. It's again hard to commit troops. It's a hard experience for his daughters to see their dad campaigning. It's hard climbing the mighty mountain, to look down at the valley of peace.
Does it sound like maybe, in his heart of hearts, George feels like he's in over his head? Or at least pretty darn tired? EVERYTHING seems hard to him. Which raises the question: Did he think that being President of the United States (formerly Leader of the Free World) was supposed to be EASY?
People have called Bush a "cowboy", but you don't hear real cowboys complaining about how hard everything is. Sure it's hard. Of course it's hard. That comes with the territory. Up before dawn, riding herd in the dust all day, sleeping on hard ground, getting rained on, but never a peep about it being "hard." "Hard" is for petulant prep school boys. "Hard" is for wimps. Real strong leaders, as opposed to guys play-acting at leadership, don't complain about how hard their job is, they just do it. That's part of being a leader. As a guy who seems all fired up about what "message" people are sending, what does he think it says to people that the President complains about how hard his job is?
Hasn't anyone ever told him to "Just suck it up!"?
Personally, I was disappointed in Kerry. Kerry was still not the candidate he could or should be. He could have done better. I was astonished at his seeming lack of preparation to easily rebuff Bush's stump-speech attack lines. It's a good thing that President Bush has been in hermetically-sealed criticism-free bubble, because if Bush hadn't been so simply nonplussed by someone criticizing him to his face, it would have been a far different debate. Kerry seemed very weak on exposing the nonsense of Bush's standard lines. And Bush making those attacks, unanswered, is what is getting played in the sound-bite version of the debate. Maybe this was a tactical choice by the Kerry camp, but I think it was a mistake.
However, Kerry does seem to have surpassed the "minimum Presidential-ness" threshold for many viewers, which seems to be his objective. I'm buoyed by the idea that there are many out there who want to dump Bush, but need to know Kerry is at least OK, first. I think they got that last night.
But there are a couple of more subtle points that are on my mind following the debate. First, Bush really wants credit for working hard, and seemed oddly unconcerned about the results of all that hard work. Sadly, I believe most would agree that it's results that matter. Presidents, as opposed to legacy Yalies, or West Texas oilmen with rich family friends, get judged by what they actually DID, not what they wanted to do, or whether their heart is pure, or any of the other things Bush seemed to suggest mattered.
Second, not only did he want credit just for trying, he spent an awful lot of time repeating how "hard" everything was. It's hard fighting in Iraq. It's hard deciding to go to Iraq. It's hard running homeland defense. It's hard working with the FBI. It's hard fighting the Baathists we let get away so they could fight us now. It's hard getting casualty reports. It's hard watching how hard it is on TV. It's hard going from tyranny to democracy. It's hardest comforting the loved ones left behind; it's hard to "try to love her as best as I can". It's again hard in Iraq. It's hard training Iraqis. It's hard to stand up to a determined enemy. It's again hard to commit troops. It's a hard experience for his daughters to see their dad campaigning. It's hard climbing the mighty mountain, to look down at the valley of peace.
Does it sound like maybe, in his heart of hearts, George feels like he's in over his head? Or at least pretty darn tired? EVERYTHING seems hard to him. Which raises the question: Did he think that being President of the United States (formerly Leader of the Free World) was supposed to be EASY?
People have called Bush a "cowboy", but you don't hear real cowboys complaining about how hard everything is. Sure it's hard. Of course it's hard. That comes with the territory. Up before dawn, riding herd in the dust all day, sleeping on hard ground, getting rained on, but never a peep about it being "hard." "Hard" is for petulant prep school boys. "Hard" is for wimps. Real strong leaders, as opposed to guys play-acting at leadership, don't complain about how hard their job is, they just do it. That's part of being a leader. As a guy who seems all fired up about what "message" people are sending, what does he think it says to people that the President complains about how hard his job is?
Hasn't anyone ever told him to "Just suck it up!"?
posted by Paul at 2:39 PM |
|
email this
