Kerry Sucks Less?

October 2004

Perpetual war– that is President Bush’s declared vision for America. We are to arm ourselves to the teeth and initiate first-strike “preemptive” wars with those who might become our enemies. We are to ignore the Geneva Conventions in order to torture and kill enemy prisoners “legally.” The Bill of Rights’ fair and open trials are to be replaced with secret tribunals and off-shore military “justice.” Neighbors are encouraged to report neighbors to secret government hotlines. Any citizen questioning administration policies is to be branded a traitor whose video rentals, library records, and credit card purchases can be secretly spied on, and any candidate for office who does not whole-heartedly cheer the Administration is painted as one who supports terrorism. The nation is to be kept ever-fearful through endless color-coded alerts. And, since the “war” on terror is a fight against an enduring tactic, not a defeatable foe, our transformation into a brutal and intolerant world bully is to be permanent.

Clearly, the country has taken a dreadfully wrong turn. And while it is frightening that the man at the wheel is driving us off a cliff, it is perhaps more disturbing to realize that the man trying to grab the steering wheel says he does not plan to change direction.

Democratic nominee John Kerry has repeatedly voted to authorize and fund Bush’s bogus war against Iraq. He voted for the Patriot Act’s suspension of the Bill of Rights. And he promises ever-more money for “homeland” security– to track citizens’ comings and goings, to buy more weapons systems, and– astonishingly– to expand America’s global troop deployments.

Kerry defenders are quick to claim that anyone appearing soft on terrorism would be unelectable; thus, they argue, it is politically smart to appear to be just a bit less bellicose than Bush, giving voters a choice between Bush and Bush-lite. This “Kerry Sucks Less” strategy also appears to be at the heart of Kerry’s boasts about voting to confirm proto-fascist Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court, his endorsement of writing anti-gay discrimination into the Massachusetts constitution, and his support of NAFTA’s gutting of labor and environmental protections.

But voters who want a warrior (and anti-gay, anti-labor, anti-environment) President already have one. Instead of trying to win over the few voters who may settle for Bush-lite, Kerry should focus on increasing turn-out of the majority of Americans who want a real change in the country’s direction. Expanding Democratic turnout in key swing states is not only the one way to build foundations for lasting change, but it is the only viable electoral strategy for victory this year. But Kerry’s “I Suck Less” strategy makes it impossible to appeal to voters alienated by the hawkish mentality coming from both parties.

Kerry would do well to take a lesson from the last guy from Massachusetts to run for president against a Bush. In 1988, Michael Dukakis lost a winnable election to a bumbling and corrupt George Bush (the elder), in large part because he inanely insisted that the election was about competence, not ideology. Kerry repeats the same error today: to passengers being driven off a cliff, Kerry promises a better car instead of a change in direction.

Another four years of Bush would be undoubtedly calamitous, so let us hope Mr. Kerry wakes up and finds his voice. It took him years to figure out that the war in Vietnam was immoral and not in America’s genuine interests; perhaps Kerry will make a similar realization about the war in Iraq sometime in the next six weeks….

Pasted from <http://guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=16BD1B19-8B57-422A-A3ED5BC6AD8FFBFA>