Thursday, July 29, 2004
Will the GOP Overplay Their Hand?
At the Convention: Will it be the George Bush of 2003 or the George Bush of 2004?
George Bush is not a great public speaker, but from time to time his cadence and his heart align and he is capable of delivering a moving, if plain spoken, presentation. I think this is best illustrated by his state of the union speech (Sotus) in 2003 where he really did outline an agenda for compassionate converatism, it was the last time I actually felt connected with him. The speech in 2004 was, in my opinion, an unmitigated disaster. It was the epitome of big government conservatism at its worst. Fighting steroid use in professional sports? The U is at war and this is one of our domestic priorities? As much as the 2003 stows showed thought and vision, the 2004 speech showed a lack of imagination and was widely derided in both conservative and liberal circles.
So which GWB will we see in NY in September? The president who called for a global fight against AIDS or the one who wants to test every American student for drug use? I don't know. The Democrats seem to be pulling off a coherent convention with a simple message, the challenge for the Republicans is to do the same. No repeat of the Pat Buchanan debacle of 1992, a balance between highlighting the differences between the GOP and the Dems while highlighting the GOP plan for American over the next four years. (Which I fear consists simply of continued growth of government programs and spending). The Republicans only enemy in September is the tendency for hubris, they should proceed with caution.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127391,00.html
George Bush is not a great public speaker, but from time to time his cadence and his heart align and he is capable of delivering a moving, if plain spoken, presentation. I think this is best illustrated by his state of the union speech (Sotus) in 2003 where he really did outline an agenda for compassionate converatism, it was the last time I actually felt connected with him. The speech in 2004 was, in my opinion, an unmitigated disaster. It was the epitome of big government conservatism at its worst. Fighting steroid use in professional sports? The U is at war and this is one of our domestic priorities? As much as the 2003 stows showed thought and vision, the 2004 speech showed a lack of imagination and was widely derided in both conservative and liberal circles.
So which GWB will we see in NY in September? The president who called for a global fight against AIDS or the one who wants to test every American student for drug use? I don't know. The Democrats seem to be pulling off a coherent convention with a simple message, the challenge for the Republicans is to do the same. No repeat of the Pat Buchanan debacle of 1992, a balance between highlighting the differences between the GOP and the Dems while highlighting the GOP plan for American over the next four years. (Which I fear consists simply of continued growth of government programs and spending). The Republicans only enemy in September is the tendency for hubris, they should proceed with caution.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127391,00.html
