k wrote:
] John Kerry is this country's intellect. George Bush is our
] heart.
]
] Kerry clearly won the debate. He made strong points that Bush
] couldn't counter. Bush had his moments too, but they were
] fewer. Bush did not build the coalition that he said he was
] going to build. Bush did not use war as a last resort. With we
] did win concessions from Lybia, and possibly Syria, through
] the invasion of Iraq, Iran is moving forward with their nuke
] plan.
]
] Bush was defensive, and in a sense you have to identify with
] his position. I don't like a number of his policies. I don't
] want to see him win. But he is a sitting President, and he may
] have been goofing off before 9/11, but he hasn't since. He
] kept repeating that its a hard job. It is a hard job. Most
] countries leaders are either corrupt enough to have opulent
] wealth and pleasure as a result of their position, or lucky
] enough to be running some place like Canada that basically
] just needs maintenance and isn't at the center of World
] affairs. Bush has worked his ass off and he has fought hard,
] and all he gets in return is jeers from his political enemies.
] At the end of the day you want the American people to show you
] that they appreciate it. Its impossible to simultaneously
] honor someone's service to his country while you're firing
] him, and that is a shame on some level.
]
] Kerry is right, in a moral sense, that we need more people in
] Iraq to secure the country. If we really care about Iraq, we
] need to secure it. At the same time, the costs and risks that
] this entails are staggering. Are we really prepared for this
] commitment? This is the draft.
]
] John Edwards sounds like a fucking redneck. In a sense he is
] the Dem's dark horse. All of the Democrats who've won
] elections in the past half century have been Southerners. The
] South's Democratic block is the thing that has kept this
] country from completely turning into an Urban vs. Rural
] culture war. Southerners like to vote for Southerners, even if
] they are Democrats, because Southern is still a cultural
] identity that is stronger then urban or rural. Furthermore, in
] the South the local Republicans have traditionally been the
] guys with holes in their sheets. No one wants to vote for a
] racist.
]
] If the Republicans can pull the South, they win. Thats why
] they support the fundamentalists. Christian is a more
] important cultural identity then Southern or Republican. If
] they can connect with it over the next few cycles they'll
] control the country, and it will become a very uncomfortable
] place for multiculturalist intellectuals from the big city.
]
] Some have argued that because Kerry is a Northerner, and Bush
] is from Texas, that Kerry really doesn't have a prayer. The
] visibility of Edwards during these debates might change that.
] Thats really Kerry's best hope.
]
] K is right that the Dems need to think more strategically. To
] put a point on it, the Dems will loose the South over the next
] few years as the Republicans work to extend their concept of
] Christian to associate the GOP with Southern. People with
] pickup trucks vote for Bush. The Dems need to figure out what
] core cultural identities they are going to connect with. The
] intellectual elite is not large enough to win elections on its
] own. They need to tie themselves to core American identities.
]
]
] All in all, it was a really good debate. It felt like a much
] more substantive discussion then the crazy hate fest that this
] election season has been, with Michael Moore on the one hand
] and Swift Boat Veterans on the other, its been really
] difficult to keep the important stuff in the crosshairs.
]
] [ Decius is even handed, though I may disagree on how much
] pity i owe Bush, or that he represents our Heart in any true
] sense, but this is a very realistic assessment.
]
] Bush looked exhausted and petulant last night, and came off as
] if even he had tired of repeating the same lines over and over
] again. Kerry wasn't mindblowing, but he was confident,
] unfazed and heartfelt, which was more than enough last night.
] -k]

I don't have a TV, so I missed the debates. I've tried to find them on bit torrent to no avail. But when I listened to exerpts in the car, I was struck by the wounded sincerity in GW's voice. It scared me. Even though I can't stand the motherfucker, I actually felt for the guy. My gut told me that he was a good man, if only for a moment. Dumb, overwhelmed, misguided... but good. Like if a friend were in trouble.

And so I find you comment about Kerry being our intellect and Bush our heart to be true. And I worry that we feel more when listening to our heart.

RE: Debate