The Home Stretch

With the Bush Team amassing the largest war chest in campaign history, this eight month stretch prior to the 2004 Presidential election is going to be an uphill Battle for Senator John Kerry. According to Andy Barkan, Senior political editor for the Columbia Political Review, here are a few of the reasons why....

"Kerry must, before anything else, articulate a response to rogue totalitarianism--be it from Stalinist North Korea, Wahhabist Saudi Arabia or theocratic Iran. What will he do about Pakistani nuclear bazaars and elusive al-Qaeda cells? If John Kerry lets George Bush and Karl Rove shape the election as a choice between an aggressive Republican foreign policy and a wimpy Democratic one, you can bet your ballot Americans will choose the former....."

"Second, the senator will have to address the holy trinity of America's culture wars: guns, gays, and God. He'll have to disarm the National Rifle Association, whose attacks probably cost Al Gore Tennessee and West Virginia....."

"Finally--and this is perhaps his greatest challenge--Kerry will have to beat Bush on character. How does he plan to raise the issue of Bush's credibility and record without coming across as angry or mean? Can he talk about Bush misleading us about the war and stonewalling the Sept. 11 commission without sounding like a conniving politician? Can he talk about tax cuts for the rich without sounding like he's playing class warfare? Can he talk about job losses compassionately and sincerely? And, probably most importantly of all, can he deflect the criticisms that he's a waffling, unprincipled Washington politician? Eight months from now, we'll have our answer."

I think he's up for the challenge. Let's play ball!