An interesting article:
Why hasn't Senator John Kerry's newly formulated Iraq policy gained traction among voters? Even in the wake of a relatively strong performance in the first debate, and more than a week after he delivered what a majority of commentators called his most impressive address of the campaign, in which he leveled his harshest criticism to date of President Bush's performance in Iraq, Kerry's poll numbers haven't moved much.
Why, then, has this aggressive tack not paid dividends? While some pundits have attributed the failure of the new line to strategic missteps, and others have pointed to the inappropriateness of "rooting for failure" in Iraq, the simplest explanation is the most compelling: the substance of Kerry's Iraq plan is redundant, unrealistic, or just plain wrong.
That, and maybe: It's the economy, stupid!
Economy Grows at 3.3 Percent Rate in Q2
All 50 States Post Personal Income Growth
Not surprisingly, the Kerry campaign has gone into full Vietnamization mode vis-a-vis Iraq, even getting a boost from reliable ally CBS who gleefully reported on the likelihood of a reinstatement of the draft, the source for which seems to be an Internet hoax.
So the economy continues to improve, though it seems to be walking - not running - to the finish line.
Mostly, I think, it has to do with the media (as a whole, as opposed to individual outlets) overblowing the stories that it tells. For days we've been hit with articles saying: "KERRY WON!" But in reality, only a minority of those polled thought that Kerry won; the majority thought that it was either a tie or Bush won. So it shouldn't be expected to be any kind of Earth shattering event.
Posted by Jeff at October 4, 2004 09:53 AM. Original Copyright, May 2004. All Rights Reserved.
