October 20, 2004
Boo!
Halloween comes early to the Kerry/Edwards campaign...
With polling data perhaps not looking the way they would like, the Kerry campaign has returned to a tried and true campaign tool of Democrat races past - scare the hell out of the electorate.
Now the usual Democrat October Surprise is to jump out at seniors and yell "Privatize!" This normally helps bring older Democrats back in the fold, voters who may not like some of the Democrat party's more progressive social stands, but who will return to the fold if they think their social security check will be pilfered by Republicans.
Sure enough, Kerry has announced that Bush has a "secret plan" - we are not making this up - to privatize social security.
This is fairly unimaginative as far as secret plans go. I mean if you are going to accuse someone of a secret plan, go for the gusto - Bush has a secret plan to outlaw puppies and kittens. Or Bush has a secret plan to allow a Martian invasion of the planet. Maybe Bush has a secret plan to replace your regular coffee with Folger's Crystals. How about Bush has a secret plan to bring back the draft?
Oh wait, that's another entry in the Kerry campaign's Little Shop of Horrors. Despite the fact that it was Democrats like Charles Rangel who proposed a draft, despite the fact that a Republican Congress defeated a propsed draft 402-2, despite the fact that Bush has repeatedly stated he would not institute a draft - Kerry has conflated the situation in Iraq to conclude that there is a "great potential of a draft".
Some have defended this reasoning, for instance using the Bush campaigns statement that to pay for all of his programs, Kerry will have to raise taxes on everyone. And the reasoning is sound behind this comparison. But everyone pays taxes - tax policy is something that is accepted as fair game. Drafting your children to send off to war is not. The draft should be discussed, but only in the realm of the real - and the Kerry accusation is utter innuendo with no supporting facts.
Someone close the window... John Kerry is feeling a draft...
Posted by MEC2 at October 20, 2004 06:16 AM