so much for this news cycle
So I spend the entire afternoon researching and writing my last post, thinking that the Washington Times story might just be the final nail in Kerry's coffin.
And then I read the story by the New York Times about a huge weapons cache that has been missing since--oh, since pretty much the start of the invasion of Iraq. After reading the article, I try to do a little transposing of myself into the body of an undecided voter. The transformation goes something like this:
-- I don't care that Kerry is a bit of an aggrandizer--or even an outright liar! He is, after all, a politician, and politicians always take credit for things they don't do. So those Swift Boat Vets--their stories don't effect me. Neither do these new claims of Kerry meeting with some of the members of the Security Council--but not all. Who cares?
-- I DO, however, care about the war in Iraq. I think we should be there, but I am not 100% sure that Bush has pursued the most appropriate path in conducting the war. I don't think Bush "lied" about the evidence to get us into the war--but some of the things he has done have left me scratching my head. And while Kerry hasn't really offered me better options with regards to Iraq, at least I'm sure he would do something different than Bush.
-- And for the record, I rely mostly on the mainstream media to provide me my news coverage. I'm far from a political junkie, but I do care about this election, so I look not just to the TV networks, but also to the major newspapers for coverage. (Most major newspapers use the AP as their reporting source)
And I could go on and on about what I think the "mindset" of a undecided voter looks like, but given the stories today, I think this is enough. And to this person, Kerry lying in the debates doesn't matter too much--but a stash of ammo in Iraq just disappearing is big news. The fact that actually reading the article makes it appear like that ammo could have been gone since before U.S. troops arrived at the site doesn't matter much because THE PRESS WON'T REPORT IT! What does matter, however, is that the Administration's response so far has been fairly inept. And this is the kind of story that could sway an undecided voter.
The President needs to answer this, and he needs to answer it quickly, factually and competently.
And then I read the story by the New York Times about a huge weapons cache that has been missing since--oh, since pretty much the start of the invasion of Iraq. After reading the article, I try to do a little transposing of myself into the body of an undecided voter. The transformation goes something like this:
-- I don't care that Kerry is a bit of an aggrandizer--or even an outright liar! He is, after all, a politician, and politicians always take credit for things they don't do. So those Swift Boat Vets--their stories don't effect me. Neither do these new claims of Kerry meeting with some of the members of the Security Council--but not all. Who cares?
-- I DO, however, care about the war in Iraq. I think we should be there, but I am not 100% sure that Bush has pursued the most appropriate path in conducting the war. I don't think Bush "lied" about the evidence to get us into the war--but some of the things he has done have left me scratching my head. And while Kerry hasn't really offered me better options with regards to Iraq, at least I'm sure he would do something different than Bush.
-- And for the record, I rely mostly on the mainstream media to provide me my news coverage. I'm far from a political junkie, but I do care about this election, so I look not just to the TV networks, but also to the major newspapers for coverage. (Most major newspapers use the AP as their reporting source)
And I could go on and on about what I think the "mindset" of a undecided voter looks like, but given the stories today, I think this is enough. And to this person, Kerry lying in the debates doesn't matter too much--but a stash of ammo in Iraq just disappearing is big news. The fact that actually reading the article makes it appear like that ammo could have been gone since before U.S. troops arrived at the site doesn't matter much because THE PRESS WON'T REPORT IT! What does matter, however, is that the Administration's response so far has been fairly inept. And this is the kind of story that could sway an undecided voter.
The President needs to answer this, and he needs to answer it quickly, factually and competently.
1 Comments:
I'm with you on this one. Powerline was trying to pump up the WashTimes story all weekend, and it is actually rather unimpressive; this, on the other hand--even if it IS ridiculously out of date--could cause people to break one way.
Sadly, the administration seems startlingly unable to mount forceful, timely responses to things like this. We'll see how it plays out.
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