Some tough days ahead

Being a conservative will not be easy over the next few days. In fact, many of us will probably find our stomachs knotted with disgust over what will surely be some of the worst mud-slinging we've seen yet. With the race quickly slipping away from them the Democrats, in a desperate attempt to gain even the slightest traction, are going to fire another salvo of personal attacks at the president. And not the "personal attacks" the media just loves to accuse the Bush campaign of participating in, which includes pointing to senator Kerry's senate record, these will be nasty.

Susan Estrich, campaign manager for the Dukakis campaign (you would think these people would be in hiding still), gave a preview of what we can expect from her party in the coming days in an article she wrote last week:

After Vietnam, nothing is ancient history, and Cheney is still drinking. What their records suggest is not only a serious problem with alcoholism, which Bush but not Cheney has acknowledged, but also an even more serious problem of judgment. Could Dick Cheney get a license to drive a school bus with his record of drunken driving? (I can see the ad now.) A job at a nuclear power plant? Is any alcoholic ever really cured? So why put him in the most stressful job in the world, with a war going south, a thousand Americans already dead and control of weapons capable of destroying the world at his fingertips.

Yeah, thats the ticket to victory. Label the president and vice president a couple of drunks who could possibly start a nuclear war while stumbling about the "Red Button" in some drunken stupor. But the Dem's don't intend to end here.

A book by Kitty Kelley will detail among other things that president Bush once did cocaine in at Camp David. Did she obtain this info from a loose lipped Secret Service agent? Nah! Her source is the bitter ex-wife of George's brother. But we can all count on the media repeating these lies as though they were the gospel truth.

The Democrats smearing of the president will not be limited to members of their party alone. One of the largest non-registered liberal PACs (Political Action Commitees), CBS News, will be interviewing the former Lt. Governor of Texas Ben Barnes to rehash the president's service in the Air National Guard. Barnes will claim the Bush family preasured him into helping Bush avoid Vietnam service by getting him into the Guard. The fact the Barnes made the exact opposite assertion under sworn testimony will not disuade CBS's Dan Rather from granting this demagogue the status of national hero. Nor will the fact that Barnes is the third largest contributor to Kerry's campaign (as was noted here just days ago) keep the rest of the press from going into a frenzy.

So add all this with the major media outlets salivating like rabid dogs over the 1000 dead bodies in Iraq, and what do you have? Some major heartburn if youre a Republican, and false hope if youre a Democrat.

My advice: IGNORE IT! Give yourself a break from the talking heads on TV for a couple weeks. Let the Kerry campaign and their allies in the media try their best to turn the table. But also rest assured that none of it will have a lasting effect.

The majority of Americans like the president, and some downright love the guy. Thirty year old rumors are not going to change people's overall perception of the president because they have gotten to know him. We've all gotten to know him pretty well over the last 3.5 years, and it will be hard to prove our perceptions of the man to be false.

Kerry on the other hand is new to the nation at large, and this is why his critics have been so effective. When Kerry wouldnt tell America who he was, he left an opening for others to do his introductions for him. The Dems are going to claim this gives them the right to attack to the president, and we should go ahead and let them. There are less than 60 days left in this election, and if this is how the media and the Democratic party want to waste these very precious weeks, I say let them!

The debates are coming and Kerry still has not been able to find his voice. Its looking like there will be two debates, and if the Dems think that Kerry is going in for a sweep they are in greater denial then we could have ever imagined. Bush will either win both, or it will be split - in essence making the debates a wash, and still leaving the president in the lead. So keeping this in mind, it doesnt take a political savant to see that the Democrats should spend their time wisely. Letting the media-cycle spin back to the Vietnam debate is not going to help them; I thought August proved that.

Finally, if Bush wins this election and the Republicans tighten their grip on the congress the entire Democratic party will be in chaos. Lucky for us, this chaos will be VERY public. But when the Dem's start passing blame and pointing fingers, they need only look to themselves for the crux of their circumstances.

Whose fault is it that Kerry can't campaign on his Senate record because it would scare away all but a few San Francisco activists? Whose fault is it that Kerry had to base his campaign on the 4 months he spent taking home videos in Vietnam? And whose fault is it that the front-loaded Democratic primary left their party with a candidate who can't connect with people, flip-flops to the degree where its almost pathological, and finds himself still without a message less than 60 days before the election? Democrats.

So take my advice, take a break from the TV pundits for awhile. Tune back in once the debates start up, and enjoy what will surely be a sigh of relief. But save your popcorn and candy for November 3rd, cause thats when the real fireworks will begin!