Wednesday, August 25, 2004
It's All in the Details. . . Or Not
Word from TeamBush is that the GOP Convention will feature the rollout of a whole host of policies for George's next four years. Which would be good, since his Swift Boat attack is losing a bit of steam and starting to boomerang on his campaign, if even so slightly.
This kind of announcement is rare for TeamBush, and one could say that they're clutching for straws. TeamBush is in fact famous for downplaying expectations and then crowing like W hit a Grand Slam when he manages to surpass the low bar that was set for him. The last time they tried to pin so much on one event was his speech at the Army War College over the summer, touted as 'the first of seven major policy statements on foreign policy'. See AHU May 26 for details.
The problem was it was a speech consisting of cobbled together soundbites and campaign rhetoric that went down like the proverbial Lead Balloon. Needless to say the public and media, let alone military tacticians in the selected audience, were less than impressed. We're still waiting for the remaining six speeches.
The Washington Post looks at his economic proposals to date and finds them lacking, or rather, nonexistent. What is interesting are 'the critics' referred to in the article's title--they are investment bankers and right-leaning economists who should be part of Bush's natural constituency. When those folks start having a skittish feeling it's a clear sign his campaign has some heavy lifting to do.
Word from TeamBush is that the GOP Convention will feature the rollout of a whole host of policies for George's next four years. Which would be good, since his Swift Boat attack is losing a bit of steam and starting to boomerang on his campaign, if even so slightly.
This kind of announcement is rare for TeamBush, and one could say that they're clutching for straws. TeamBush is in fact famous for downplaying expectations and then crowing like W hit a Grand Slam when he manages to surpass the low bar that was set for him. The last time they tried to pin so much on one event was his speech at the Army War College over the summer, touted as 'the first of seven major policy statements on foreign policy'. See AHU May 26 for details.
The problem was it was a speech consisting of cobbled together soundbites and campaign rhetoric that went down like the proverbial Lead Balloon. Needless to say the public and media, let alone military tacticians in the selected audience, were less than impressed. We're still waiting for the remaining six speeches.
The Washington Post looks at his economic proposals to date and finds them lacking, or rather, nonexistent. What is interesting are 'the critics' referred to in the article's title--they are investment bankers and right-leaning economists who should be part of Bush's natural constituency. When those folks start having a skittish feeling it's a clear sign his campaign has some heavy lifting to do.
"(S)keptics, many of them supporters, are beginning to doubt the president
will get much beyond general themes such as "ownership" or "tax simplification."
"When you're on the campaign trail with all these politicos who know nothing
about the economy and are saying, 'We've got to do something,' there's got to be
pressure to come up with something at least rhetorically beyond 'Four More
Years,' " said Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and commentator. "But as
far as I can see, there's nothing.""
Comments:
Post a Comment
