- Richard Greene
- 31 Oct 06, 08:47 PM
George Bush and Dick Cheney have been working overtime (and racking up air miles) to in the final days before the elections, and on Monday they got a gift from an unexpected source: John Kerry.
As the president was telling the good people of Texas that the Democrats did not want to win in Iraq, his former rival was in California insulting the troops.
Or so Mr Bush and his spokesman would have us believe. And when you review Mr Kerry鈥檚 comment, it鈥檚 hard to argue:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he said, eliciting chuckles from the students. (You can hear his words here.)
The president demanded an apology, and some furious also pounced, calling Mr Kerry a disgrace.
Senator Kerry in response, saying he had botched a joke aimed at the president - and that he would apologise to no-one for his criticism. But his tough talk reminded me of an old political maxim: If you're explaining, you're losing.
John Kerry clearly thinks he is going to run for president again in 2008. If he doesn鈥檛 have jokes funnier than this, he's going to lose again. And in the meantime, he's not doing his party any favours this year.
Richard Greene is the 大象传媒 News website's Washington reporter
- Claire Bolderson
- 31 Oct 06, 04:50 PM
It was great to see Congressman in action at the last debate of the campaign in Nashville. He's the young black Democratic Party candidate for the Senate in Tennessee, and he could well win.
Ford was relaxed on stage, at times a little cocky perhaps. He managed to get in a few jabs at his opponent , but what was more impressive was the way he finessed his message.
He's selling himself as a conservative on social issues. He's anti-gay marriage and anti-gun control, for example, and he talks passionately about his Christianity. And somehow he manages it wrap it all up in a theme that will appeal to disillusioned Republicans as well as Democrats - the need for change in Washington.
Afterwards, both candidates came into the media room. Everyone descended on Bob Corker because he was first to arrive, but attention quickly shifted to Harold Ford when he came in.
He's definitely today's man, quite charismatic, fast on his feet with questions and never deviating from what by now must be a carefully honed mental script.
I couldn't help wondering, though, what liberal Democrats think about him. At one point in the debate he referred to his support for President Bush's law on military commissions to try terror suspects, acknowledging that some people weren't happy with that.
The woman next to me, a supporter, said loudly and angrily "too right". She'll vote for him, though, because he could help deliver the Senate into Democratic Party hands.
Claire Bolderson presents 大象传媒 radio's World Tonight and Newshour
- The Reporters
- 31 Oct 06, 03:39 PM
Blackwhite: The president's warning that a Democratic victory means defeat in Iraq is a sign that the Republican fear machine is sputtering and grinding itself into incoherent fear-mongering pieces in the final week of this campaign.
Hyscience: The Democrats have somehow forgotten that neither President Bush nor the Republicans are the enemy - the Islamic terrorists that are murdering people throughout Iraq and elsewhere throughout the world are.
No Matter What They Tell Us has a joke about an Indian chief in training to become a member of Congress.
