esrosedotblog

INCHES

I live in the lefty blogosphere so I am well acquainted with all the ins and outs of the swift boat stuff. I don't like any of it. It has bothered me a lot. On the other hand, what did we expect? This is the pattern that was telegraphed a month or so ago by the bushers themselves when they said they would attack Kerry's record mercilessly. And their history is just that. Dukakis and McCain as well as countless other opponents have felt the sheer force of nastiness that the bushmear can work on you. So. When we piss and moan about this situation; let us now use it to recast our expectations and jettison the naiveté.

Another thing is not to be hard on ourselves. There is a lot of breast beating because the Kerry gang were too late off the ground with a counter to this. Let's not forget that our side plays nicer. That is part of the whole deal. It is too bad but that is the way it is. Play nice, get smeared. I think they have done a good job of responding late or no. Some polls show relatively little damage. In fact, they hit back where junior is most vulnerable: dirty tricks (which people do not like though they continue to be effective) and illuminating again the fact that bush is a draft dodger. This does not sound too nice to me. Take a look at the new ad. The one that will be used in the same locales as the swifties: ISSUES. It is not too gentle.

The third thing. There is a lot of whining that wubya did not directly take the ad out or was not direct enough about the issue. Hey! Forget it. Get your head out of your asses. Bush does not DO sorry; he does not COMMIT acts of charity. Here is what he DID do. He gave one more inch to Kerry on his military record:

"I think Senator Kerry served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record. But the question is who is best to lead the country in the war on terror? Who can handle the responsibilities of the commander in chief? Who's got a clear vision of the risks that the country faces?"

Well, yes. Yesterday Kerry's record was 'noble'. Today he served admirably. Not much for us who want the whole thing but, shit-damn, this is not that kind of world. And this is not generosity on bush' part. He can see the handwriting on the wall. The dirt failed to stick. The beam of the light is coming back to him. He is squirming and doing his bit. There will not be an issue of Kerry's record from the gop. Be grateful for very small developments in this war of attrition.

Will the issue go away? No. Will there be other smears? Yes. Will this be a more 'noble' campaign? No. But remember there ARE white hats and black hats here and we gotta wear ours to the end of the show.