Why Bush Lost
Yes, I am writing this at 2pm PST on Tuesday. So what, it's over.
Bush lost for a very simple reason: First pissing off, and then motivating, nearly every part of the electorate outside your very core support is a bad, bad, idea.
He pissed off my Mom -- what Molly Ivins calls "the Episcopalian vote" (though Mom is Lutheran) with his non-reality-based rhetoric, his right-wing evangelical agenda.
He pissed off my brother -- a young swing state male -- by lying about his $300 tax cut (remember that in 2002, he gave a $300 refund and a $300 "advance" which had to be paid back in 2003? that hurt some people who didn't budget for it...)
He pissed of my friend Jim by actually being crap in the war on terror and crap on fiscal sanity - Jim is a Buchanan Republican who knows a sheep from a goat. or a Pet Goat.
He apparently has pissed off Hispanics (according to this post) by being crap on immigration.
He pissed off the national security voters by invading Iraq, being wrong about WMD, and not getting bin Laden.
I could go on... but the point is, huge chunks of the "big tent" Republican majority defected this year, because Bush pissed them off.
Memo to President Kerry: You have created a historic coalition of groups with some disparate agendas and a burning desire for retribution after four painful years. Do NOT give in to their demands for redress, but rather consider how to both maintain, and expand, your coalition of governance over the next four years -- or we will be seeing the pendulum swing back in 48 months.
And finally.... Hurrah!!
Bush lost for a very simple reason: First pissing off, and then motivating, nearly every part of the electorate outside your very core support is a bad, bad, idea.
He pissed off my Mom -- what Molly Ivins calls "the Episcopalian vote" (though Mom is Lutheran) with his non-reality-based rhetoric, his right-wing evangelical agenda.
He pissed off my brother -- a young swing state male -- by lying about his $300 tax cut (remember that in 2002, he gave a $300 refund and a $300 "advance" which had to be paid back in 2003? that hurt some people who didn't budget for it...)
He pissed of my friend Jim by actually being crap in the war on terror and crap on fiscal sanity - Jim is a Buchanan Republican who knows a sheep from a goat. or a Pet Goat.
He apparently has pissed off Hispanics (according to this post) by being crap on immigration.
He pissed off the national security voters by invading Iraq, being wrong about WMD, and not getting bin Laden.
I could go on... but the point is, huge chunks of the "big tent" Republican majority defected this year, because Bush pissed them off.
Memo to President Kerry: You have created a historic coalition of groups with some disparate agendas and a burning desire for retribution after four painful years. Do NOT give in to their demands for redress, but rather consider how to both maintain, and expand, your coalition of governance over the next four years -- or we will be seeing the pendulum swing back in 48 months.
And finally.... Hurrah!!
posted by Ethan at 2:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home