Rush to Judgment

I spent most of 2003 trying to keep John Kerry out of the White House. I’m not a Democrat and I embrace the values of Dwight Eisenhower and, it turns out, his son.

But I’ve never felt that Bush has much of a hope of re-election, because, as long as the votes are fairly counted, he’s not likely to receive more votes than last time, and his opposition is highly energized. That has nothing to do with John Kerry and everything to do with the American dislike for hype, elective foreign wars, rich spoiled kids and big, intrusive gummint.

So I want to put out my forecast before the debate is rehashed, so my prescience can be noted.

And Now It Begins…

It begins tonight: a growing consensus by the press that George W. Bush doesn’t deserve our support. Most people in the press are more sensible than ideological, and a tight race is in the interest of the media. So the instinct that caused them to remark on Dubya’s “unexpectedly” good debate performance 4 years ago inclines them to see a shift back toward John Kerry, regardless of their true opinion. So that’s what we’ll see.

My other prediction is that few major newspapers will endorse Bush. Wherever objective, informed people gather, it’s hard for them to see the combination of cosmetic security, management malpractice and fiscal impropriety as supportable.

During October, the press will “reluctantly” reconsider their past support for the president and discover more promise in Kerry’s record than in a man who has shown his ineptitude in every endeavor he’s attempted, now including this one.

Unfortunately, his dad’s friends don’t have enough money to bail him out this time. That’s up to our kids, and theirs.

4:09:35 PM