The 'Why' Factor

One Hugh Hewitt symposium ends, another begins. To all of Hugh's readers, welcome and thanks for stopping by! If you have a spare moment, please leave a link back to your blog in the "comments" section, so I can zero in on your take on today's question, which is:

Why vote for Bush, and what's wrong with Kerry? (250 words or less)

With Kerry, you just need to take the man at his own estimation. If you go back through the transcripts of his convention speech and the three debates, you'll notice he's fond of favorably referencing Republicans. From Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan to Dwight Eisenhower to John McCain to yes, even George H. W. Bush!

True, Democrats like FDR and JFK pop up frequently, as does an actual living one, Bill Clinton. Harry Truman gets namechecked too. But what does it say about Kerry that he feels the need to appropriate the other party’s talent?

What it tells me, and what it should tell voters, is that the grass is greener on the Republican side, and has been since the Republican Party’s inception. So with a 140-year legacy that even Kerry acknowledges the existence of, why switch to the guy who admits his party’s only living asset is Bill Clinton?

As for Bush, let me direct you to a book entitled Presidential Leadership: Rating The Best And The Worst In The White House. Specifically, the chapter on Abraham Lincoln.

According to the book, Lincoln had virtually no military experience prior to taking office. He had never lived or even traveled abroad. Once taking office, he made tough, controversial decisions. He bravely weathered a storm of public opinion arrayed against him. He endured the highs and the lows of the war with dogged tenacity.

Now substitute “President Bush” in place of Lincoln. Reads the same, doesn’t it?

Exactly.

-Dave O'Connell