It’s scarcely breaking news that Kerry is held as marginal winner of the first bear pit square-off of Bush v. challenger. This little beauty (courtesy of mefi) gives another perspective on things.
Basically, to paraphrase an old friend of mine, it’s a load of linguistic old bollocks. Hammer home the key points over and over and Joe TV-viewer might just understand. It’s also old school politics (off the top of my head, the best immediate comparison is the ‘Brutus is an honourable man” speech from Julius Caesar. Kings, leaders and wannabes have been at it since time immemorial, and it’s worth remembering that there are no good and bad guys. Kerry wants the voter to think of Bush as an incompetent and uncaring leader. Bush wants the voter to think of Kerry as unreliable and feckless. At this point in time the contest is dirty, bloody and ignoble. It’s rare in modern politics for issues to have any importance, but only a fool would look for any real evidence of them at this point in the electoral cycle.