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October 11, 2004

Too liberal, or not too liberal?

That is the question:

The debate didn't change many minds, but it had a measurable impact on voter perceptions of Bush and Kerry. Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters now believe that Senator Kerry is politically liberal. That's up six points from before the debate and the highest level of the year. The number viewing President Bush as politically conservative increased to 65%. That's similar to his numbers coming out of the Republican Convention.

Here's what hurt Kerry the most:

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah, I mean, he's got a record. He's been there for 20 years. You can run, but you can't hide. He voted 98 times to raise taxes. I mean, these aren't make-up figures. And so people are going to have to look at the record. Look at the record of the man running for the President. They don't name him the most liberal in the United States because he hasn't shown up to many meetings. They named him because of his votes. And it's reality. It's just not credible to say he's going to keep taxes down and balance budgets.

Kerry's response was weak at best:

SENATOR KERRY: Boy, to listen to that, the President I don't think is living in a world of reality with respect to the environment. Now, if you're a Red Sox fan, that's okay. But if you're a President, it's not. Let me just say to you, number one, don't throw the labels around. Labels don't mean anything. I supported welfare reform. I led the fight to put 100,000 cops on the streets of America. I've been for faith-based initiatives helping to intervene in the lives of young children for years. I was -- broke with my party in 1985, one of the first three Democrats to fight for a balanced budget when it was heresy. Labels don't fit, ladies and gentlemen.

Here's what Kerry should have said:

I am not the most liberal Senator. Far from it. What the National Journal did is look at the votes from the last year only, and of those votes I was present for, I had the highest percentage which were votes against the President. From that, they labeled me the most liberal, but the truth is that I was running in a national Presidential campaign. Many of the bills with bi-partisan support, my vote was not needed. They were going to pass anyway. I worked with the Senate leaders to determine when my vote was most needed, and when it was, I was there. It's a distortion when the President says I'm the most liberal Senator. I think we should give the American people the truth, and let them decide for themselves. Not try to twist the facts and call each other names.

Jon Stewart said it pretty well, too:

STEWART: Right. But is that over their career, or over just...

BONILLA: Over their career.

STEWART: But see, no!

BONILLA: But they'll do it every year as well.

STEWART: The first and fourth--

BONILLA: They do it yearly and for career.

STEWART: But you know that the-- but Edwards over his career is actually more to the right than the median Democrat, and actually Kerry is more to the right of Kennedy. So I just, you know, like you say.

BONILLA: You're right.

STEWART: You just want people to have an honest discussion. That's all that I want. I'm not Democrat, I'm not Republican, but my head, with the spinning and the responses and the things, is... I'm a sad little man.

Posted by Mike at October 11, 2004 03:17 PM

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