Saturday, February 07, 2004
‘All of his jaw-jawing back and forth on the issues are just tactics‘: How can you not print an email that starts off ‘Yes, that was a not-bad recap of Weld-Kerry.’ Why, thank you, Reader No. 1. Who else? Lots on the incredibly overrated Kerry-Weld race. From Reader No. 1: “Yes, that was a not-bad recap of Weld-Kerry, notwithstanding the typical insufferable NYT tonality ('the affable aristocrat'). Excellent choice of quotes, in some cases not for their perceptiveness.
“Example: Rob Gray suggesting voiding the spending cap shows that 'Kerry will abandon his principles' gets it exactly backwards. Kerry would have been abandoning his principles if he followed the cap, and lost. Victory IS his principle and all of his jaw-jawing back and forth on the issues are just tactics.
“The story overlooks some major points on Weld that hurt him and reflected well on Kerry. I remember Weld's ‘jump in the lake'’ cited here getting negative coverage suggestive of a lack of seriousness. But more to the point (and not mentioned by the out-of-town press): Weld's Senate run capped two years of post-re-election drift, which started with him signing off on a 50% midnight payraise for the same legislators he'd bashed so effectively early in his term. The coziness with the Mass hack legislature was a
gleaming neon sign that the solution had become part of the problem (go read old Howie Carr columns -- maybe the new NYT section on 'conservatives' will turn him up).
“The result: Weld actually communicated aloofness and careerism more than Kerry in this race. He was tired of running the Commonwealth and aspired to a station in life more befitting his talent. Combine that with the Gingrich-Helms matchup (it seems some Massachusetts voters still fear those two more than
Osama and Saddam) and it was curtains for the Affable Aristocrat.
“Applying Weld-Kerry as a national lesson: Bush 2 must determine how to avoid looking more like the real Kerry has conducted his career (disconnected, Washington politician) while Kerry tries to look more like the real Bush has conducted his Presidency (responsible defender of American, and global
freedoms).”
“P.S.: 1 thing I neglected to mention but should have: if the NYT even did the legwork to determine how Weld succumbed to the Mass political establishment (thereby derailing his political career), the probability of their noting it approaches zero for obvious reasons ... "
Hub Blog's train-of-thought response: Have you ever noticed in the idealistic movie 'The Candidate' how the U.S. Senate candidate, sickened by the process that got him the seat, never says at the end he won't take office? ... Thank you, Reader No. 1.
“Example: Rob Gray suggesting voiding the spending cap shows that 'Kerry will abandon his principles' gets it exactly backwards. Kerry would have been abandoning his principles if he followed the cap, and lost. Victory IS his principle and all of his jaw-jawing back and forth on the issues are just tactics.
“The story overlooks some major points on Weld that hurt him and reflected well on Kerry. I remember Weld's ‘jump in the lake'’ cited here getting negative coverage suggestive of a lack of seriousness. But more to the point (and not mentioned by the out-of-town press): Weld's Senate run capped two years of post-re-election drift, which started with him signing off on a 50% midnight payraise for the same legislators he'd bashed so effectively early in his term. The coziness with the Mass hack legislature was a
gleaming neon sign that the solution had become part of the problem (go read old Howie Carr columns -- maybe the new NYT section on 'conservatives' will turn him up).
“The result: Weld actually communicated aloofness and careerism more than Kerry in this race. He was tired of running the Commonwealth and aspired to a station in life more befitting his talent. Combine that with the Gingrich-Helms matchup (it seems some Massachusetts voters still fear those two more than
Osama and Saddam) and it was curtains for the Affable Aristocrat.
“Applying Weld-Kerry as a national lesson: Bush 2 must determine how to avoid looking more like the real Kerry has conducted his career (disconnected, Washington politician) while Kerry tries to look more like the real Bush has conducted his Presidency (responsible defender of American, and global
freedoms).”
“P.S.: 1 thing I neglected to mention but should have: if the NYT even did the legwork to determine how Weld succumbed to the Mass political establishment (thereby derailing his political career), the probability of their noting it approaches zero for obvious reasons ... "
Hub Blog's train-of-thought response: Have you ever noticed in the idealistic movie 'The Candidate' how the U.S. Senate candidate, sickened by the process that got him the seat, never says at the end he won't take office? ... Thank you, Reader No. 1.
