Bush, Gore and McCain (GOP takes out it's gun and shoots itself in the foot)
Gary (muckiepup)
the middle has very little to do with extreme partisanship, that's just
reserved for us; the hardcore partisans that probably make up 20% of the
right and the left.
The 60% of the voters that remain are strictly middle of the road. The
reason they split was because both candidates were weak and there was
not a overriding issue that captured the nations attention or a crisis
that needed to be taken care of. We have never been better off
economically as a nation. The middle is fat and happy.
So what did they base this election on? Not issues. They based it on the
candidates personalities. Both Gore and Bush have fairly high negatives.
Nobody wants a dumbbell to be president and no one likes a know it all.
Both are arrogant. Bush has the arrogance of someone to the manor born,
he has been dilettante his whole life. Gore has the arrogance of someone
who was born to be important, groomed since birth to be an "important"
leader. He has the arrogance of someone who's smarter than you and is
going to let you know it and correct you when need be. Nobody likes
either kind of arrogance.
For the 60% in the middle, this election was a hold your nose and pull
the lever for the candidate that was the least offensive.
The Republican hierarchy screwed up by giving their "backing" to a
candidate who was picked by focus groups and marketing consultants as
"electable". What a mistake. Bush is of little substance; he is fluff.
The handwriting started appearing on the wall during the NH primary. The
answer was right there in front of the GOP and it scared the hell out of
them. The answer was, of course, John McCain.
But the Republican hierarchy knew they would have no control over John
McCain. After NH they went on all out offensive against him. They
started a whispering campaign against, insinuating he was mentally unbalanced.
You good Republicans should have realized what George W. Bush was made
of when he stood with that nutjob vet in SC who slagged McCain for being
uncaring to vets, unpatriotic and NOT a hero.(Go watch the documentary
on the Hanoi Hilton and try to say with straight face that John McCain
isn't a hero) And Bush just stood there was a smirk on. Later he claimed
that he had no idea what the nutjob was going to say. Doubtful, but what
stopped him from telling that nutjob vet he was wrong? This is what your
man is made of; nothing. You picked the wrong guy, the empty suit, the
marketing consultants choice. Bad move.
John McCain would have beaten Al Gore hands down. He would have gotten
the independents, a lot of Dems (including me and other Dems I know), as
well as a big bite of the Nader vote, young people loved him.
This fantasy that GOP partisans (idiots like Hannity and Rush) harbored
up until Election Day that Bush was going to blow Al Gore away and win
in a landslide was never ever going to happen. Oh yes, your hardcore
base was energized but your hardcore base is only 20% of the voting
public. Same as with my side's base; energized but it too is only 20% of
the voting public.
The 60% in middle laughed and said, "that Bush is none too bright do we
really want to let him near any sharp objects, much less a nuclear
button. And that know it all, Al Gore, rubs us the wrong too. Shit.
Let's just flip a coin."
John McCain was the answer but you picked a guy who couldn't even hold
his coat.
kri...@secretserve.gov
Philip Bourgeois
I agree that the best GOP candidate was McCain....It always puzzled me
that the GOP" Champions of the Military" wouldn't nominate a man who
had served and instead went for the Heroic Bush...Defender of the
Oklahoma Skies....
I think it had to do with Campaign Finance Reform......
Wouldn't want to level the playing field, politics....the rich mans
solution of what to do with their idiot sons.....