July 11, 2004
50-0 FILES:
The Vice Squad: John Edwards may win in a popularity contest against Dick Cheney, but the two campaigns are tied as Bush’s approval ratings climb back up (Brian Braiker, July 10, 2004, Newsweek)
Although the John Kerry campaign enjoyed a rush of positive media coverage after announcing that John Edwards would be the Democratic candidate’s running mate, it is still locked in a dead heat with the Republican ticket, according to the first NEWSWEEK poll conducted since Edwards was tapped. Nearly 70 percent of all voters believe the selection of Edwards won’t make much difference in the outcome of the election, according to the poll. The survey also found that more voters think President George W. Bush will be re-elected than think Kerry will take the White House. [...]With the drumbeat of bad news from Iraq seeming to die down and the administration’s handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi people last month, the president’s job approval numbers are up slightly to 48 percent over the historic low it hit in May (42 percent).
The Senators campaign, up to now, was based on two issues that were certain to be working against them by Summer: the economy and Iraq. Now that Mr. Edwards has joined the ticket, we're likely to get a steady diet of the Two Americas. To understand how silly a basis that is for a national political campaign just look at the economy: we're all in the First America, so they're basically threatening to use the government to take what we have and give it to the Second. That kind of class warfare has never worked too well in relentlessly middle class America. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 11, 2004 8:48 AM
"... the president’s job approval numbers are up slightly to 48 percent over the historic low it hit in May (42 percent)."
Six percent is only up slightly?
Edwards with his nice hair, boyish looks, empty suit, demogogic mouth music and obvious opportunism will only emphasize Kerry's shortcomings.
The perfect ticket: Carpetbagger and Snakeoil Salesman ... Kerry, Edwards in 2004. You decide ... which's which.
"There are two Americas -- and millions of the people already distinguish between them.
One is the America of the imperialists -- of the little clique of capitalists, landlords, and militarists who are threatening and terrifying the world. This is the America the people of the world hate and fear.
There is the other America -- the America of the workers and farmers and the 'little people.' They constitute the great majority of the people. They do the work of the country. They revere its old democratic traditions -- its old record of friendship for the people of other lands, in their struggles against kings and despots -- its generous asylum once freely granted to the oppressed."
Sounds like John Edwards' Two Americas, yes? Actually it is from a speech by James P. Cannon at the 1948 convention of the Socialist Workers Party. So John Kerry takes his campaign motto from a communist poet of the depression era and Edwards repackages SWP rhetoric from 50 years ago.
Posted by: jd watson at July 11, 2004 10:33 AMNewsweek skews left so Bush is probably doing even better than this. Edwards does not seem to have boosted Kerry at all. And once the Dem convention is over what dramatic action will Kerry take to get some attention?
Posted by: AWW at July 11, 2004 10:49 PMAdding to the Ludicrousness of the "two Americas" argument is that it's being espoused by two Millionaires, the one at the top of the ticket claiming that only people who served in war have the authority to lead a country in war. If a non-veteran can't lead a military war, how can a millionaire lead a war on poverty?
If the Media weren't deep in the left wing tank, they'd hang Kerry with this.
Posted by: MarkD at July 12, 2004 7:52 PM